Down By the Water: Purrfect Partners II
by LordByronMudkippington
Summary: (On extended hiatus.) The members of Aqours try to navigate through trying times in what ends up being a very important year at school. Meanwhile, the members of Muse, now having all becomes Guardians, will attempt to keep everything from going off the rails. (The sequel to Purrfect Partners)
1. Chapter 1: The Spring

**Author's Note:** Well, it's been about ten months since I wrapped up Purrfect Partners, which was nice (since it took about a year and a half to finally get that done. And now I'm trying to do this craziness all over again. Since this will be my 100th fic on this site, I decided to do something special for it, which means: sequel! With the sequel, we'll be exploring the world of Aqours this time, and how their guardians try to help them get through trying times in their lives.

* * *

Chika was laying down on the beach, her arms above her head as she held her phone aloft. On the screen were three girls dancing on a stage to slickly-produced electro-pop beats. Their outfits were outlandish, yet appealing to the eye. They moved so flawlessly with each other, every step having been carefully coordinated. While the moves themselves were different, she felt a sense of familiarity after all those times she had watched Kanan practicing her own dancing. It was the kind of talent she wished that she had worked on back then. School idols were really something.

The beach was so calm in the evenings. Not a lot of people were there, allowing Chika to relax without interruption. The tinge of salt that arrived on the air from the water was a friend she had long ago gotten used to. She loved everything about her quaint little seaside town. The big city was big and bright, but there was something to be said for a place where everybody knew each other by their first names. That didn't mean she couldn't dream...

Lately she'd been having dreams of dancing on stage in front of huge audiences, just like the girls in the videos she watched. It was the dreams that made her start watching the videos, in fact, and made her really start thinking about school idols. Even when Kanan had been in her own idol group, she'd only given it general appreciation, and that was just because her friend was in it. This was different, though. She no longer felt like sitting on the sidelines, watching and supporting her friends. Now she wanted to make her own idol group.

It just seemed so exciting. Sometimes she'd daydream about dancing next to Kanan's group, Aqours, and being part of the idol experience. That's all it was, though: a dream. Not only had Aqours broken up, but even mentioning idols now made Kanan noticeably annoyed. At this point, Chika knew better than to speak about things like that in her presence. It was kind of frustrating, though. Now that she had finally come around to being super excited about idols, Kanan chose to clam up about the whole enterprise. She understood, but... it was still a little annoying.

When the video ended, Chika sighed and sat up, sand clinging to the back of her shirt. Things just weren't the same anymore, and it sucked. There was always underlying tension, and even if Kanan tried to hide it, she knew it was there. She could feel it in the air, but nobody ever wanted to talk about it. Even You felt it was best to just let sleeping dogs lie. That was the most frustrating thing of all, though! She wanted to wake those sleeping dogs and make something happen!

Speaking of dogs... Chika stood up and tried to wipe the sand off of her back, but stopped when she saw something in her peripheral vision. When she turned to look at it, she saw that it was a big, orange dog. It was just sitting on the beach, staring at her. Or at least staring her way. She tilted her head slightly, and the dog mimicked her action. Confused, she took a step towards it, then another. The dog didn't move. In fact, it didn't do anything but just watch her as she approached. It was sort of creepy. There was almost no movement at all until she got close enough to where she could pet it. Then it jumped up and started padding away from her.

"Hey, wait!" She called out, but the dog didn't stop, so she began to follow it. There didn't seem to be a collar on it, so it might've been a stray. Or perhaps it was someone's pet, but it had slipped out of its collar. Either way, it would be best if she called animal control. Still, she found herself following it, curious about where it was going, and why it hadn't ran away upon her initial approach.

They both ended up by a dock, where someone else was standing without realizing she now had company. Chika found her attention diverted from the dog and towards the strange girl with the pretty red hair. She'd never seen her around before, and she looked to be around her age. Was she new to town? What was she doing there? Then she moved slightly, like she was taking a deep breath, before unbuttoning her skirt. "Wh-What the heck?!"

She was wearing a bathing suit underneath, but that freaked Chika out for a second. Then she realized what the girl was going to do, and she freaked out all over again. "Wait, stop!" Her phone fell from her hands and into the sand due to her shock. Forgetting about the dog, she ran through the sand and towards the dock, trying to stop the girl before she plunged herself into the still-chilled ocean. Before she got there, however, the girl started to run down the dock with a loud shout. "Wait!"

The girl had nearly plunged off the dock before Chika grabbed her hand, pulling back with all her might to keep them both upright. Clearly having not expected to be interrupted, the girl looked back at Chika. Their eyes met, and Chika felt like her breath had been taken away. That momentary lapse caused her footing to loosen, and with a screech both of them plunged into the ocean.

"C-Cold!" The new girl shouted out as soon as she came back up, with Chika right behind her.

"Y-You think?!" Chika had not been wearing a bathing suit, so now her normal clothes were soaked. That made her pout at the redhead, but she was back to being curious once they both swam back to shore and fell upon the sand. "Why did you try to jump into the water?"

"I..." The girl started to blush, embarrassed about her actions. Rather, she was embarrassed that someone caught her, and was surely judging her. "I was trying to find the sound of the ocean." She hadn't meant for the truth - the silly, strange-sounding truth - to spill out, but there it went. Surely this girl wouldn't understand what she was talking about. Still, she leaned in closer, her eyes burning with curiosity.

"The sound of the ocean? Like the waves crashing or something?"

"Not... exactly." She rubbed her arm nervously, avoiding eye contact. It was something that was really difficult to explain. "I wanted to... write a composition about the ocean, but I don't know too much about it since I just moved here. So I wanted to... get up close and personal, I guess?" She was sure that would continue to be confusing, but it seemed to switch a light on in her attempted savior's eyes instead.

"Ooh, you play an instrument? That's cool!" Chika smiled brightly as she got into the girl's personal space, making her back up a bit. "What instrument is it?"

"The piano..."

"Awesome! I can't play any instruments, but it seems tough. You must have a lot of skill!" That seemed to immediately cause a change in the girl, who shrunk down with a suddenly miserable expression on her face. "Woah, is everything alright? Did I say something bad?"

"No, it's... it's nothing." She looked away, leaving an awkward silence between them. "I'm... I'm Riko. Sakurauchi Riko."

"I'm Takami Chika!" Chika was relieved that the sudden awkwardness was gone, and she was happy to get the name of the new girl. "Since you're new here, I can show you around sometime! If you want, that is." She still wasn't looking at Chika, but she could see a small smile forming on her face. "Is that a yes?"

"Well... maybe." Riko giggled, pushing herself onto her feet. "How about when I get settled in? I still need to help my parents unpack."

"Okay!" Her earlier thoughts about idols and the past had been chased out of her mind, replaced by the excitement of meeting a new person. Riko... She was cute! Hopefully they were the same age, so that they could be in the same class together. Wait until You found out! First things first, though: they needed to get home. Riko went over to the dock, grabbing the towel she'd brought with her to dry off. "So are you going to Uranohoshi High?"

"Yes. I'm a second year." When Riko turned to dry off her legs, Chika silently pumped her fist in the air. Same school, same grade. Excellent! Things were looking up today.

Eventually, Riko finished drying herself off and got dressed, the two of them starting to leave the beach together. It was only then that Chika remembered the strange dog. She looked back at the spot she had seen it last, but there was nothing there. Scanning the beach, there was no sign of the dog anywhere. It must've ran off when Chika tried to save Riko. Oh well. It must've gone back to its owner. There were more important things to do, like trying to eye Riko without it being extremely noticeable.

* * *

Things had been going a lot faster than Riko had anticipated. She'd only just moved to Uchiura, and already she had befriended a rambunctious girl named Chika. They'd met completely by chance, yet the coincidences kept on coming when it turned out that Riko had moved in right next door. Chika had been irrepressibly excited, and immediately rushed to the balcony so they could both keep talking across the way. It had been fun, since Chika had enough topics to talk about for the both of them, but it had definitely distracted her. Enough to where she nearly forgot to help with the unpacking.

Thankfully she hadn't gotten in any trouble. Her mom was actually happy that she'd found a friend so quickly. It was secretly relieving to Riko as well. She'd dreaded the thought of trying to make new friends in a place where everybody was surely already so tightly bonded, but it seemed that things wouldn't be as difficult as she'd predicted. Chika hadn't even hesitated to call them friends so soon after meeting. The thought brought a smile to Riko's face.

That smile, however, soon disappeared when she returned to her room and found herself staring at her piano. The movers had quite the time getting it in the room, having to maneuver it from the balcony. Now it stood in the corner, almost as if it was taunting Riko. She shuddered, turning away from it, but she felt as if it was still staring at her. Maybe she should've insisted it go in the living room instead. That'd be the perfect place to entertain guests, or never play it ever again.

She'd had this idea of creating a composition based on the ocean. Now that she was living so close to it, maybe it'd help her get better acquainted with her new town, along with returning her to the instrument she used to love so much. It'd been a crazy idea, though. She'd learned nothing from foolishly throwing herself - and Chika - into the water. How did she even think that was a good idea? This was just a waste of time.

Sighing to herself, Riko pulled her glass door aside and stepped onto the balcony, letting the night air chill her. She went over and put her hands on the railing, looking over towards Chika's side. Light was visible through the slit between the curtains, but they were closed. Chika was probably busy. Too busy to come outside randomly to see if her new neighbor was dealing with mental issues. She was glad she didn't say these things out loud. Otherwise she'd be immediately branded as the weirdo from the big city.

Turning away from the balcony, she stared up at the moon, taking a deep breath. She wished that they didn't have to move to Uchiura. Not that it wasn't nice, but Tokyo was nice too. She missed it, with all the familiar places she knew and loved, plus the few friends she'd made at school. They were all left behind, and if she was honest with herself, nobody probably even missed her. Life was going to continue on, even without her being there. That certainly didn't make her feel any better. God, she had issues.

It would've been different if she wasn't such a failure. She knew that to be undisputed fact. Out of all of the things in the world that she could've failed at, it wasn't supposed to be something she was good at. All she had was that one talent, that one skill she'd worked so hard to get better in, and she'd watched all that work blow up in her face. So much for that...

Things could be different now, though. Nobody here knew who she was back in Tokyo, so she could craft a new life for herself. That was one thought that comforted her, at least a little. All of the mistakes she made in the past didn't have to affect her here. She didn't even have to play the piano anymore. It could be given up... if she hadn't told Chika that she played the piano. Why had she done that? Riko banged her fist against the railing in frustration, mentally berating herself.

It was at that low point, glancing down at the street, when she saw a cat staring back at her. Its fur seemed to glow scarlet beneath the streetlamps, and it made Riko feel weird. Had it been watching her the whole time? No, it couldn't have been. It was just a cat. Maybe it was just wandering around looking for food and had just happened to stop there, where Riko just happened to be contemplating her failures. That made the most sense.

They held eye contact - or what Riko assumed was eye contact - until she realized how utterly ridiculous the whole situation was. Sighing again, she looked away and slunk back into her room, shutting the door and shuffling over to her bed. She fell onto it, face first, and decided she might as well wallow in self-pity for the rest of the night. That was now her best skill. Why did she have to mess everything up?

Outside, the cat stood there for a few moments longer, staring up at the now-empty balcony. Then it twitched its left ear and walked away.

* * *

Apparently having solemn nighttime contemplation on one's balcony was contagious in Uchiura. Though for You, there weren't any friendly neighbors for her to even consider talking to about her problems. The one person she could talk to above all others, she couldn't even speak to them about this. How could she tell Chika about how she was feeling when the feelings were caused by Chika herself?

She'd spent several years either ignoring the feelings or outright denying them, but she couldn't really deny them any longer. After almost a lifetime of being best friends with Chika, her feelings had grown beyond 'just friends'. There was more that she wanted, things that being just friends wouldn't satisfy. The thought of admitting these things to Chika, however, terrified her. What if she said no? It would damage their friendship, not to mention absolutely crush You. She couldn't do it.

Then she got the texts from Chika earlier that day. She'd met someone on the beach named Riko, and she was in their grade. Apparently she'd sneaked a picture of her, considering that Riko wasn't looking at the camera, to show You. She had to admit that Riko was pretty, just as Chika said. Thinking it was one thing, though. Seeing Chika say it out loud... via text, anyway... that hurt. It made her stomach churn to think about Chika having these thoughts about someone else. Especially a girl she had just met!

It made her feel like now was the time to do something. If she didn't do anything, Chika would surely become obsessed with Riko. That was just what Chika did. When she got fixated on something, she wouldn't let it go and would talk about it constantly. Idols had become her new fixation, but if it became Riko... You didn't know how she'd be able to live with that.

She pounded her fist against the railing, having made up her mind. No matter how scared she was, she needed to tell Chika the truth about how she felt as soon as possible. If she didn't, then it would be too late. She could do this, she could do this... Oh, how was she going to do this? It was the most terrifying thing she'd ever convinced herself to do!

Slumping against the railing, she sighed and looked up at the sky. Around her block, a lone bird flew against the gloom. Funny: she couldn't remember ever seeing a bird like that flying around during the night. It didn't seem interested in leaving the area either. Rather, it just kept to the same block, always in You's sight. Maybe it was a sign. She wasn't sure what kind of sign it might be, but it was something. Maybe it was good, and that this was the right thing to do.

She smiled and adjusted her glasses, curling her hands into fists. This was going to be fine. She could do it. Tomorrow was the first day of school, after all. It would be time for new beginnings. The beginning of a life where she could be dating Chika... That's all she wanted in life.

"Yousoro!" She slapped her cheeks to psyche herself up, then went back inside to get ready for bed. Her entire being was so amped up, though, and sleep didn't come easy for her. It felt like it took forever to finally fall asleep, and her dreams were too chaotic to get a good grip on. She kept feeling like she was being sucked down by quicksand, only to be spit back out into the same terrifying scenario: Chika not returning her feelings.

When she woke up the next morning, she felt exhausted and more unsure than she had the previous night. "What do I do..."


	2. Chapter 2: Who I Am Hates Who I Am

"School idols? Us?" You had spent all morning mentally preparing herself: not for the first day of school, but to confess her feelings to Chika. She'd practiced in the mirror, though she had to stop when her fantasies started to run a bit too wild. It seemed like she'd actually be able to say something after all this time... only to have Chika blindside her with talks about idols. Not just watching idols, but becoming them. That threw her for a loop.

"Yeah! I had this dream last night, where we were on stage, dancing and singing in front a crowd cheering our names. I woke up so excited, I just couldn't get the idea out of my mind!" You was listening, but hearing that Chika was dreaming about the two of them had flooded her heart with warmth. It made the potential for reservations about the idea dissipate. "What do you think?"

"I... I think it's a great idea!" She didn't have anything close to the dancing skills that a school idol needed, but she could never say no to Chika. Besides, this would be a way for them to get closer. She would never decline that chance. "But how are we going to organize everything?"

"I thought about that!" Chika dropped her backpack onto the ground and unzipped it, pulling out a stack of fliers and shoving them into You's arms. "So I was thinking you'd make the costumes, and I'd write the lyrics! We'd both create the choreography, at least until we get more members. That's what the fliers are for! Check it out!" You looked at the top flier. It was decently detailed, with a chibi drawing of their heads in the top right corner. The main body spoke of the idol group like a club, encouraging people to join. There was something about their name, though...

"The Chika-You Experience? Chika, that's a... an odd name choice."

"I know, but it's the best I could come up with on short notice." Chika took the fliers back and put them in her backpack. "It looks good though, right? We can start plastering them around and handing them out! We'll have lots of people come to our first show, and we'll be super popular!"

"How did you even come up with this on such short notice? That's a lot of fliers."

"I woke up from my dream at three, and I just stayed up working on everything." Chika smiled, and You noticed how jittery she looked. "I don't remember how much caffeine I had, but I sure did burn out the printer! Don't worry: I left before Mito noticed, so she didn't get mad."

"She'll just be mad when you get home..." You sighed, but had a fond smile on her face. That was Chika for you. She was always jumping headfirst into ideas she never had a chance of finishing. Still, You would follow her until the end of their journey. That was just how things worked.

"Ah, I'm sure she'll cool off! ... But if she doesn't, I'll hide out at Riko's until things blow over." You's face quickly fell at the mention of Riko. It made her remember what she had wanted to say that morning, but she really didn't want to hear Chika talking about Riko. "Oh! I wanted to invite Riko into the group too! She plays piano, so she can be our composer! We'll be the Mikan Trio then! ... Shoot, I'll have to print out more fliers."

"Chika..." You shut her eyes and sighed. Her emotions were back to being in great turmoil. She really shouldn't have been surprised that Chika wanted to invite Riko into the fledgling group, but it still hurt her. This was supposed to be something for her and Chika. At least, that's what she thought. It was clear that she was mistaken, though. Chika just wanted to get closer to Riko... She had to do something: she had to say something before it's too late. Trying to muster up her determination, she opened her eyes and stared right at Chika.

"Chika, I-" She was staring at the spot where Chika had once been. "Huh?" She looked around, finding Chika jogging off towards two girls walking together. "Oh Chika..." Frowning, You went after her. Why did this have to be so difficult?

* * *

Ruby was feeling a few choice emotions as she walked to school. She was actually excited to go to school, because it was her first year of high school and she'd get to go to school with her big sister. That also made her extremely nervous, though. Dia was so perfect, and she was so... not. What if she did something stupid and embarrassed Dia? Her sister would be so ashamed... though not as much as Ruby herself would be. She had to make a good impression in order to not bring shame to the Kurosawa name.

Hanamaru didn't have these problems. Ruby glanced at her best friend, smiling slightly as she watched her munch on a snack. She was just concerned about taking care of her family's temple and eating good food. Sometimes she wished that her life was more like Hanamaru's: carefree and without the weight of expectations. That was what things had been like when she was a little child. If only she could go back to those days.

"Hello!" Ruby let out a shriek and jumped behind Hanamaru, clinging to her back with a whimper. So much for making a good impression. Slowly she peeked out from behind Hanamaru, seeing a girl with bright orange hair and a confused expression on her face. "Eh?" She stared at Ruby for a moment longer, making her shrink back in fear. Then her attention suddenly snapped to Hanamaru. "Wanna join an idol group?"

"Zura?" Hanamaru stared at the flier Chika shoved in front of her, speed reading everything on it. Idols... Those weren't really her thing. They were definitely Ruby's, though, and she didn't need to look behind her to know that her best friend was looking at the flier intently.

Just as predicted, Ruby was staring at the flier with a look of intense concentration. It was such a turnaround from her previous shyness that it caught Chika off guard. She lifted the flier in the air, watching as Ruby's eyes followed it. Down, left, up, right: every direction the flier went, her eyes followed. That got Chika grinning. She'd caught a live one.

"What about you? Do you like idols?"

"I love idols!" Ruby clapped her hands together and took a step out from behind Hanamaru, practically vibrating with excitement. It'd been too long since she'd gotten to talk about one of her favorite things in the whole wide world. "You've already got a group together? Are you doing concerts already?"

"Well, not yet, but we want to!" Chika pointed at You, who froze as two new sets of eyes turned towards her. "We're new to school idols, but we really love it a lot, and we're hoping everyone will support us!" You couldn't help but think that it was Chika who loved idols a lot, not her. She wasn't going to say anything to contradict it, though. "So how about it? Will you two join us? We'll change the name if you do!"

"Join?" Ruby could tell that Hanamaru wasn't very interested. She'd always been one to sit on the sidelines, watching others do it. That's how Ruby was too, but she'd always dreamed of being an idol. It'd seemed unreasonable due to her crippling shyness and small voice, not to mention she wasn't cute or stylish enough to stand on stage with actual idols. She was being asked to join, though. This strange girl didn't even care about Ruby's self-doubt, which of course she wouldn't have any knowledge of. It gave Ruby a flutter of hope... which was soon dashed when she thought about Dia.

Her sister would never approve of this. This was just a frivolous activity that would distract her from her studies. She couldn't afford those distractions, not when she didn't have Dia's brains. It hurt, but it was the truth. She would just have to reluctantly decline the offer.

"Yes, join! A couple of cuties like you would make our group shine extra special!" Ruby blushed at being called a cutie, and it slightly weakened her resolve. She had to decline, though. Dia would never approve of her joining. She wouldn't even approve a school idol group being created. Maybe she ought to warn them...

"I'm sorry, I can't, and I... I..." Her words of warning died on her tongue, and she looked down at the ground shyly. She didn't want to say it, though she really ought to. It just felt mean-spirited to tell them they'd fail before even really beginning. She didn't know anything about them, or their drive. They were probably a lot more talented and motivated than she ever could be. "I'm sorry..."

"Hey, it's okay!" Chika smiled, trying to make Ruby feel better, because it was obvious that she wasn't happy about this. She didn't know the true depths of what was going on, obviously, but she didn't like to see Ruby frowning. "Even if you don't join, I hope you two will support us! You can keep the flier." With a wave, she began to walk away, with You following her. They could hear the two talking to each other as they left. "Hey, when does school start anyway?"

"Uh, twenty minutes."

"What?! Oh crap, we gotta go!"

"Ch-Chika, wait up!" The two of them running to make it to school on time made both Hanamaru and Ruby giggle. It even made Ruby feel a bit better, allowing her to forget her problems temporarily. That was a very temporary time, though, as she remembered a new problem: they were going to school too.

"O-Oh no, Hanamaru! We're gonna be late too!" With a squeal, she started to run after the two wannabe idols, forcing Hanamaru to run after her.

"Wait up, zura! You're faster than me!" All four of them hurried off in the same direction, unaware that someone had been watching them the whole time. They were crouched in a tree, watching the four go with a small smirk.

"Heh heh... Foolish mortals. Constrained by the coil that is public education." They were quiet for a moment, thinking about something. "Wait, I go to that school too."

* * *

Hanamaru didn't mind school one bit. It was nice and quiet, plus she got to spend time in the library afterwards. She hoped to volunteer there like she'd done in middle school. The library was one of her favorite places, along with the temple. It was a place where she could escape into fantastical worlds and immerse herself in the storms of history. Even better, it was where she first met Ruby.

They hadn't known each other for all that long in the big scheme of things, but she thought the world of Ruby. She was such a cute person and a devoted sister. Being an only child, Hanamaru had often wished for a sibling, and she bet that Ruby would be a great sister. They could share books and study together all time. Then again, they weren't sisters and they already did that. Maybe being best friends was just as good, then.

It never bothered her that Ruby was her only friend. She wasn't going around trying to collect them like trinkets. It was all about quality over quantity, and Ruby was the most quality friend ever. Besides, there were still some people in her grade that she recognized from previous years. Not a lot of them, but enough. However, there was one familiar face that she did not expect to see. It was so surprising, she gasped and froze in place, making Ruby concerned.

"Hanamaru? Is something wrong?" Hanamaru barely heard her, though, so caught up in her surprise. That person... They were older, obviously. Of course they would be, considering how many years had passed. There was no mistaking that hairstyle, though. It was definitely hers. She started to run down the hall, not wanting her to suddenly disappear. "Hanamaru!"

Her footsteps pounding on the floor drew the attention of the familiar face, who turned to stare blankly at Hanamaru. Panting after her run, she stopped and stared at her with a big smile. "Yoshiko! It's really you!" Yoshiko's blank stare changed, and her face paled noticeably. "You remember me, right? Hanamaru?"

"Ha-na-ma-ru?" Yoshiko pronounced each syllable separately, taking a step back. "I... I don't know what you're talking about." Her retreat was halted by Hanamaru, who thrust out a fist, staring Yoshiko right in the eyes. "Eh?"

"Rock..." Despite her attempts to escape, Yoshiko found herself putting her own fist out there. "Paper..." Why was she doing that? This wasn't the time to play games! "Scissors!" They both threw out their choices. Hanamaru's was rock, and Yoshiko's was scissors. The curious thing was the way Yoshiko signaled it. Her fingers were in strange positions, almost contorted as they barely gave off that they were scissors at all. "I knew it! It really is you, Yoshiko!"

"It's Yohane!" Gasping, Yoshiko covered her mouth, but it was too late. She'd already revealed herself. "I-I mean, I don't know what you're talking about!" Curses! She couldn't believe it. After all this time... She had never thought that she'd see her again.

"We were in kindergarten together! It's been so long since I've seen you, zura!" She grabbed Yoshiko's hand and held it happily, which brought a blush to her face. Now she was blushing? This was not how her first day was supposed to go!

"I, I... I have to go to class!" Panicking, Yoshiko wrenched her hand from Hanamaru's grasp and took off down the hall, refusing to look back even as Hanamaru called out for her.

"Yoshiko, wait! That's the wrong way!"

"It's Yohane!" Then she was gone. Ruby walked over to Hanamaru and frowned slightly.

"Who was that?"

"That's Yoshiko, zura. We were in kindergarten together." She smiled at the slightly fuzzy memories of her childhood together with her first friend. The friend that she hadn't seen in so many years.

"Was she, uh... always that weird?"

"Yup!" She may have been weird, but that was just how Yoshiko was. It was nice to see that not much had changed in the intervening years. This school year was going to be very interesting.

* * *

"Ugh, that was a disaster." Yoshiko grumbled to herself, kicking a rock in front of her as far as she could. Class had already begun, but she'd panicked and ran right out of the school. Now she was too embarrassed to go back. Everything always had to be so complicated when it came to her.

It wasn't Hanamaru's fault that she'd acted like that, and she knew it. She just hadn't expected it. They hadn't seen each other since kindergarten. Who even remembered friends from all the way back then? She must've been part-elephant with a memory like that.

Admittedly, she wasn't exactly going to lose sleep over missing class. She didn't even want to go, but her education sort of demanded it. Time had come and gone too fast, though. She hadn't decided how she was going to act in school, and it was bothering her constantly. It was always in her thoughts, and she found it impossible to escape. Who was she: Yoshiko or Yohane?

Ever since she was small, she'd had a very active imagination. She'd considered herself to be a fallen angel, one who was cast out of Heaven and forced to live among the humans. It made her feel special, in a way. She wasn't Yoshiko, the silly mortal. She was Yohane, the beautiful and grandiose fallen angel! It made her confident, sometimes to her detriment. It was also a convenient excuse to explain her often rotten luck. Clearly the Gods were punishing her due to their jealousy.

The way being a fallen angel made her feel special as a child made her feel stupid once she entered middle school. Her 'shtick' wasn't as well received, and she was often the target of bullying and humiliation. She hid it all from her mom when she could, but that just meant she dealt with it all alone. Her middle school years were miserable years, and she just wanted to forget all about them. How could she forget about it when she was still lost in the fantasy that provoked all that pain, though?

It was so hard to toss aside, though. The fallen angel bit was ingrained into her very being. Yohane had become part of her, to the point where sometimes she wasn't sure which side was the real her. This was high school, though. It was her first year. She needed to lose the shtick if she wanted to have a normal school life, make friends, and not be bullied. Which she was already off to a great start with. What with running away from Zuramaru like a crazy person.

Well, at least some things never changed. She had her fallen angel thing, and Zuramaru still had that 'zura' thing going on. Maybe if she went back to school tomorrow and apologized, they could have a normal relationship. A friendship even. Then she could have a good, happy year at school. Or maybe she'd just mess it up like she always did. Where had that rock gone? She wanted to kick it again.

She was so consumed with her own thoughts that she didn't notice there was someone else there with her. Or rather, something. A cat, specifically. She only noticed it when she did because her eyes were trained to the ground, where a black cat came over and stood in front of her. Stopping, she stared down at it, and it just looked up back at her. Then it meowed sweetly, pawing at her shoes.

This was only slightly odd. Where Yoshiko's interactions with humans were less than favorable, she had a certain affinity with animals. They seemed to know that she was sad, and they would come over to her as if they were trying to make her feel better. Animals were better than people, and that was a hundred percent fact. It was backed by science and all that jazz.

She bent down and stuck her hand out, tentatively reaching for the cat. While she was perfectly happy to pet any random creature that came to her, she knew better than to just do it without reason. Rabies was a real danger, after all. So she went slow, in case she had to yank her hand back to avoid being bitten. However, there was no worry this time. The cat was more than happy to let her pet it. It made Yoshiko smile, though she couldn't help but think that of course she'd be approached by a black cat. They were connected by bad luck, clearly.

There was something interesting about this cat, though. Tied around its ear was a small pink ribbon, which signaled to Yoshiko that it was someone's cat. There was no collar, though, so she couldn't tell for sure. She figured it'd be best if she finished petting the cat and left it to be found by its owner. At the same time, she didn't want to leave it. She'd never had a pet before, and as long as she could take care of it, her mom would probably be fine with it.

"What do you say? Do you want to come with me until we find your owner?" The cat seemed to respond positively, so Yoshiko grinned and gave it one last pat. Then she stood back up and started to walk, checking to make sure the cat was following her. It was. "I think I'll call you... Bastet. You will be my new little demon!" She thrust her hand forward, posing with her fingers, until she realized what she was saying. "Ack! No no, no more demons! Augh, why is this so hard?!"

This was going to be another tough school year.


	3. Chapter 3: Crying Eyes and Shiny Skies

Ruby didn't need to be a mind reader to know there was little chance of walking home with Dia after school. They hadn't walked home together in two years, due to them going to different schools. Now they were in the same school again, at least for a year. That made Ruby happy, but not as happy as she had been when she was younger. Now her sister had more responsibilities than ever, and she would likely be staying at school late every weekday.

Just in case, she went to the student council room to sate her curiosity. Or perhaps to just make herself feel worse. As quietly as she could, she peeked through the window, finding what was likely to be a familiar sight: Dia sitting at her desk, eyes down and focused on paperwork. There was no doubt that she'd be staying late, so there'd be no time to do something silly like walk home together.

Sighing, Ruby backed away from the door and started to walk home. What was worse was that Hanamaru was staying after school as well, to borrow a few books from the library as well as try to get a part-time job working there. Both her sister and best friend were doing things with their lives, and she was very proud of them. She was also a bit envious. If only she had the drive to find something important to do. She didn't even know where to begin, though.

Walking home alone wasn't any fun. It was too lonely, and she was able to easily get caught up in her own head. All she could think of was how much of a lesser person she was than the important people in her life. She hated those thoughts almost as much as she hated that she wasn't doing anything to stop those thoughts from happening.

It was hard not to wish that she could return to the past. Things were simpler and nicer back then. She and Dia could play all they wanted, before all the weight of expectation had landed on Dia's shoulders. It'd always made her happy when she was brought along to play with Kanan and Mari, though the time they all spent together decreased at a constant rate the older they got. Not that she should be wishing for those specific moments after last year. She'd never betray her sister by hanging out with Kanan again.

Wrapped up in her thoughts, she would've walked right past a tiny, fluffy bunny if it hadn't squeaked. The noise caught her attention, and Ruby nearly jumped as she looked for the source of the sound. When she realized that it came from the bunny sitting there on the sidewalk, she had to keep herself from squealing out loud. It was so... so cute! She slowly dropped to her knees so she didn't scare it, but it didn't seem interested in hopping away. This allowed her to get a better look at it.

Its fur was a honey-brown color, which was a rather stark contrast to the white fur Ruby usually saw on rabbits online. She just couldn't get over how cute it was, though. Each twitch of its ear or crinkle of its little pink nose made her eyes shine with delight. She just wanted to pick it up and keep it as a pet. It would be properly cared for, and she'd give it all her love and attention. She'd name it Tsubasa, after one of the original school idols that kickstarted the craze all those decades ago. What if it was a boy, though? Maybe after that other award-winning idol group, George...

Wait, what was she thinking? She couldn't have a pet. What would her parents say? What would Dia say? Frowning, she gently patted the bunny on the head and stood up. It wasn't fair. She felt so lonely and she couldn't even have a little bunny with her to make it seem like she had company. Regretfully, she looked down at the bunny again, which was staring up at her and licking its little paw. So cute...

The bunny might belong to someone. There wasn't a collar, but that didn't mean it couldn't have broken free of it. Someone would be really sad that they lost their little bunny. Ruby knew she certainly would be. Finding its owner could be some kind of duty for her. At least she wouldn't be completely useless. She'd be helpful! Determined to do her Rubesty, Ruby bent down and gently attempted to pick up the bunny. It allowed her to do so without any resistance. "Eee!"

She would take the bunny home, feed it, and care for it, at least until she could find its original owners. Of course, she'd have to hide it from the rest of the family. If they found out, she'd be in so much trouble. She wasn't going to back down from this, though. It was her first moment of rebellion. She was finally becoming a teenager!

Ruby looked all around her to make sure the local police weren't immediately descending upon her for her new rebellious nature. The coast was clear, though, and she couldn't help but smile as she hugged the bunny close to her chest. "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe until we find your owners. How about that?" She felt a warmth in her chest from having the bunny in her arms. It was such a cute and warm little guy. She also felt a little bit alive, too. This was against the rules. She was a little rebel now! Maybe she should get a tattoo!

Actually, needles really hurt... so maybe not.

* * *

With a fancy flourish of her pen, Dia signed off on another paper. She was nearing the end of the stack that held information on all the incoming freshmen. That was by far the second-least amount of paperwork she had to go through as head of the student council, though. Besides the singular transfer student she had gone over, the amount of new students was not all that big. Attendance to the seaside school had been dwindling for several years, and now she was seeing first-hand just how bad it was. She wasn't even sure if the school could survive like this.

It wasn't time to dwell on negative thoughts, though. The sun was only part-way down in the sky, so she was making good time with her work. Soon she'd be able to go home and practice her yamatogoto. It had a pleasant sound that did wonders for calming her down from the rigorous stresses of her day to day life. Not that she had any reason to complain. Her life was already laid out for her. All she had to do was follow the path and she'd be taken care of for the rest of her days. What reason did she have to complain about that?

Still, there were some things she wished she could change, though she'd never speak them aloud. Loneliness was her biggest enemy. It seemed like she had to be the mature one for her entire life, even when she was a kid. Back then, she didn't mind it as much. She had her best friends, and she had Ruby. Not only that, but there were her friend's friends hanging around the periphery. There was more friendly activity then.

Things changed, of course. Her friendships drifted apart like boats in a dense fog. The strong relationship she had with Ruby became strained, which she couldn't help but feel was her fault. Just because things had been changing too drastically in her own life didn't mean she needed to be so snippy with Ruby. That wasn't just any common layperson: it was her sister. It was too late for that, though. Like everyone else, Ruby saw her for what she was: a young girl on a pedestal who was too good for the common folk. She hated it.

There was no purpose in dwelling on it now. It was what it was. All the people who gave color to her life were now at arms length, at the very least. That wasn't going to change, so it did no good to keep wishing for things to go back to the way they were. They couldn't, and she knew that. She was too smart to lose herself in the impossible. As the student council president, she had a duty to the school and to the students. All this wistful thinking was just wasting precious time and distracting her.

So she put her nose back to the grindstone and continued on with her work. The stack of papers documenting the new students was done in short order, and it wasn't long before she was done. Smiling with satisfaction, she tidied up the papers and began moving them around the office. Once everything was back in pristine order, she capped her pen and set it down before heading for the door. It was finally time to head home.

Before she could even reach it, the door opened to reveal someone standing there with a big smile on her face. At the sight of her, Dia stopped in place, her jaw dropping. It felt like everything around her had come to a stand-still, blacking out so her eyes could see nothing but the grinning blonde standing before her. There was no way she could be there, yet the evidence was right there in front of her. It was... well, it just couldn't be possible.

"M... Mari?!" Still smiling, Mari put up a hand and flashed Dia a peace sign.

"Honey, I'm home!"

* * *

Mari was vibrating with excitement. She hadn't seen Dia in a year, and to see her standing in the student council room just seemed sensible. That part of her old life hadn't changed in her time away. Dia was still as pretty and goal-oriented as ever. Joy coursed through her veins as she leaped forward and wrapped Dia in a tight hug, rubbing their cheeks together with the biggest smile on her face.

" _Il mio bel diamante_ , it's been too long!" She kept hugging Dia, but pulled her face away so she could properly pout. "You and Kanan didn't text me for so long! I thought you two didn't want to be friends with me anymore." She watched Dia's face turn an adorable shade of red, likely because of their close contact. Then she pushed Mari away, crossing her arms with a frown. Ah, that looked more like the Dia she knew.

"That isn't true, Mari. We've all been busy, and we assumed that you would be too. Or you should've been." Her eyes narrowed, as if trying to pierce through Mari's brain. "You're supposed to be at school. What are you doing here?"

"Duh, going to school?" Mari kept grinning, but there was a stinging sensation in her heart. She felt like Dia wasn't telling her the truth, even if she wasn't scratching at her mole like she used to. What could have made both of them so busy that they couldn't even text or call her a single time for eight months? It made her feel horrible, like the people she cared about the most no longer felt the same. She wasn't ready to give up, though. No matter what had happened, she wasn't going to give up on them. That was why she had to come back to Uranohoshi. "I'm coming back here for our third year!"

"No you're not."

"Eh? You can't decide that for me!" She pouted again, crossing her arms and trying to put on a serious expression to rival Dia's. "I've already put in my application to transfer back here."

"Wrong! There was only one transfer application, and it wasn't yours." Dia smiled smugly, refusing to back down and break eye contact with Mari. "Unless you changed your name to Riko, you absolutely did not put in an application to return to this school."

"I got mine personally accepted by the school chairwoman."

"Ridiculous!" Dia scoffed. "I'm going to speak to the chairwoman immediately, then."

"Alright." Mari let silence fall upon them for a few seconds, then smiled sweetly towards Dia. "How may I help you, Miss Kurosawa?" If possible, Dia frowned even deeper than before.

"Mari, please be serious. I'm going to speak to the chairwoman, and then this will be all sorted out." She brushed past Mari and opened the door, turning back to give her one last stern look. "You need to go back, Mari. I don't have time for these silly games." Then she was out of sight before Mari could say anything else. She stuck up her hand as if attempting to stop her, but let it fall down with a sigh when she realized how fruitless it was.

What had happened while she was gone? It wasn't that this was out of character for Dia, but she acted like Mari being there was a great disservice. Were her worst fears being realized? Did her friends really not want to speak to her anymore? Her mood was quickly sinking like a stone, but she defiantly pushed back against the waves threatening to chain her to the bottom of the ocean. No, it wasn't true. She refused to believe it. Something had changed, and she would just need to figure out what it was. She was not going to give up!

There was still Kanan. The carefree adventurer of their trio was always the most open of them all. Surely, if Mari asked her what was going on, she would divulge all the details. Then, armed with that, there would be nowhere for Dia to hide. It would all come out into the open, and then they could get past it and become best friends again. No silly spat had kept them apart before, and Mari wouldn't let it happen now. Their friendship was more important than that.

With great determination, she left the office and headed home. Tomorrow, she'd confront Kanan at school, and she'd learn what was going on. There would be no escape. After all, an Ohara always got their way.

At least, that's how it used to be.

* * *

The ocean was Kanan's favorite place to be. That wasn't to diss the land, but being submerged in water was where she could think the best. With an oxygen tank strapped to her back, she slowly swam through the ocean depths, looking at all the beauty that there was to see beneath the surface. Many people only got a glimpse of what she got to experience any time she wanted, and she felt privileged to live a life that allowed that.

Of course, it helped that her family ran a diving shop. She had easy access to all the equipment she needed to enjoy the ocean to the fullest extent. That's what made working there worthwhile. She was able to help her family and then explore the water at her leisure. It was easy to escape the bores and stresses of reality while underwater. The fish were her friends now.

What had been on her mind all afternoon was the pink helicopter that she'd seen flying through the skies earlier that day. There was no doubt who it was. No one else but Mari was that flashy. She still couldn't shake the thought from her mind. Why was Mari back? After all the work and heartbreak it'd taken to get her on her best path, she wasn't supposed to return to this little town, where dreams could never truly flourish.

She broke the surface off the water, letting the breathing apparatus fall from her mouth as she couldn't keep herself from frowning. It hadn't been fun to send Mari away. In fact, it'd been the most painful thing she'd ever had to do. No failed test or broken bone could compare to how she felt afterwards. It had to be done, though. Mari was a wonderful girl with such a bright future. She was wasting it sticking around in this seaside town. If she wasn't going to make decisions that were best for her, then she and Dia had to make them for her.

Okay, so that sounded very self-centered, but it wasn't like that! It was for Mari's own good. That sounded even worse... Frustrated at herself, Kanan slammed her fist against the water, splashing it around. She hated what she and Dia had to do, but it was for the best. It was what she'd told herself constantly for weeks on end just to allow her to sleep at night. Mari deserved better than Uchiura. She deserved a better life, and better friends. It had hurt them all, but that was what was best. Now she was watching it all crumble down before her eyes.

Part of her wanted to swim straight out of the ocean and run over to Mari's hotel, just to see her again with her own eyes. The other part of her wanted to sink below the ocean's depths and not resurface until everything had returned to the new normal. Maybe Mari was only visiting her old stomping grounds again, but what if that wasn't the case? What if she had come back despite all that had happened? Then everything she'd done had been for naught.

Wasn't that selfish? It was like returning the gift of a better life Kanan had tried to give her. That was just... That was just frustrating. Again she slammed her fist down on the water, which could always take any violent blow she might give to it. Now she didn't want to do either of the things she'd previously stated. She needed to swim a furious amount of laps to burn off all of the frustration. So she went back to her raft and left her oxygen tank on it, then began to swim around the ocean without a set destination. It didn't matter where she was going, or how far she went. All she needed was to clear her mind.

That was easier said than done, though. No matter how long she swam for, she couldn't escape what was happening. Mari was back, and pretending it hadn't happened wasn't going to solve anything. Besides, she knew Mari well. If she wasn't coming to accost her, she'd go and accost Dia. That wouldn't be good. Out of the two of them, Dia had been the more reluctant one to send Mari away, even if she knew it was for the best. If Mari pouted cutely enough, Dia would fold like a card table.

Swimming back to her raft, she hoisted herself onto it and began to paddle it back to the docks. She needed to act immediately to remedy the situation. Whatever had happened, she could fix it. She would get home, put everything away, get changed, and then head to Mari's hotel. It wasn't like late night rendezvous were anything new for them. She would talk with Mari, and she would be as stern as possible. Mari would just have to understand that what had happened was the best for her. That's all she cared about: what was best for Mari. Even if Mari herself didn't seem to care about that. Then everything would be fixed. And if Dia didn't like it...

Then Dia could just deal with it.


	4. Chapter 4: The Greater Good

A green light shone like a beacon across the dock, casting its will across the ocean. Kanan could feel the butterflies in her stomach doing painful flips. The entire way to the dock, she'd been thinking of what she needed to say. After turning on the light, she'd started to rehearse to herself out loud. It all sounded empty and without conviction. She felt like she wouldn't be able to speak, like her mouth would just be full of cotton.

When she saw Mari appear on her balcony, she figured nails must've been hammered into her feet. She couldn't move her body at all. Only her eyes widening would let anyone know that she hadn't contracted rigor mortis from a sudden case of death. Well, that and her jackrabbit heart. From the balcony, Mari waved down, and Kanan raised her arm stiffly to wave back. Then Mari disappeared, likely to come down and greet her. She wasn't ready for this.

When Mari came down and started walking towards her, a wave of memories rushed at her. It was like she was reliving their entire history in the span of a minute. She wasn't prepared for the tsunami of emotions crashing down upon her. It would be so easy to let her guard down and rush forward to wrap Mari in a hug, to try and pretend the past year hadn't happened.

The past year had happened, though. All the effort and all the tears, just to have Mari standing there like nothing had happened. How could she have thrown away the opportunity she'd been given? Kanan curled her hand into a fist, feeling tinges of anger welling up inside her. She'd need it if she was going to say what she needed to say.

"Kanan! I was gonna find you at school tomorrow!" Mari stepped forward, but stopped when she noticed what Kanan was wearing. "Why are you wearing a wetsuit?"

"I was doing some thinking." She crossed her arms and frowned. "What are you doing here, Mari? You're supposed to be studying abroad."

"Ugh, you sound like Dia!" Mari pouted, stomping her foot petulantly. "You even look like her too." That took Kanan by surprise. She sounded like Dia? That must mean that Dia had stood her ground too. Maybe she had underestimated her.

"Well, then Dia has the right idea. We're doing this for your own good-"

"Oh, stop it!" Mari's sharp tone did shut Kanan up, having not expected such a tone from her. "Neither of you get to decide what's best for me! That's for me to choose!" Her heart was pounding, but she slowed herself down, giving Kanan a sad smile. "And what I want is to be here with you and Dia. That's more important to me than going to some fancy school."

"But..." Was she going about this the wrong way? Her heart ached, begging her to cross the distance and hug Mari. It'd be just like old times, and they could say sorry until there was nothing left to forgive. But... Mari was thinking about others again. She always did that. Every time she got in trouble as a kid, it was because she was doing something with her and Dia, or for her and Dia. That's why she needed her friends to push her on the right path: because she wouldn't do it herself.

Mari held out her arms, as if beckoning Kanan closer with a much-needed hug. "Come on, Kanan. Please?" She smiled, as if she could see the wavering in Kanan's expression. As if she knew that she was close to having things back to the way they were. "Hug?" Kanan's feet seemed to move on their own, walking her towards Mari. There was a completely unreadable expression on her face, and as she got closer, Mari's smile got wider. Then her path changed subtly, and rather than walking into Mari's arms, she was walking past her.

"I'm sorry, Mari, but I know you're not going to help yourself with this. You'll thank me someday..." She choked up at that point, feeling like she'd start crying if she said anything more. It was too much to bear, so she just shut up and kept walking. Mari would understand someday... even if she never forgave her.

"Kanan! Don't walk away from me! I won't forgive you if you do!" She felt several errant tears slide down her cheek, but she only slightly faltered in her step. Even with Mari's words ringing in her ears, she kept walking, hoping that everything really would end up okay.

* * *

"I won't... won't forgive you..." Mari fell down to her knees, her words coming out in gasps as she started to cry without restraint. She hadn't cried like that since the first night she spent overseas, when she'd truly realized that she wasn't with her friends anymore. It felt like that now too. She had expected Dia to be like that, but not Kanan. Not her easygoing dolphin. She clutched the fabric of her dress right over her heart, feeling like the heartbreak was tearing her apart.

It felt absolutely hopeless, like there was truly nothing left for her in Uchiura. Without Dia and Kanan, what did she have? The thought of giving up and going back overseas came to mind. She could just disappear back into the night, and nobody would notice or care. Apparently that's what they wanted anyway. Her own friends didn't even want her there. It was 'for her own good'. She bit her thumb at that logic.

She had come all this way, though. She'd promised to not give up. What was the point, though? They were both so resolute, and she doubted that she could take another cold rejection. Slowly she stood up, her body still shaking as sobs continued to wrack her body. She felt absolutely wretched.

Another thought came to mind then. Why did she have to leave? She didn't have to listen to them. If they didn't want to have anything to do with her, that was fine, even if it really wasn't. She was the director of the school now. That was something important, even if Dia didn't believe her. The school needed her, especially with the information that she knew about it. She couldn't abandon Uranohoshi in its time of need. Not like how she'd been abandoned...

Kanan was out of sight at that point. Mari began to wipe her tears away as she walked slowly back to the hotel. Every step felt heavy, like her shoes were filled with lead. All she could think about was what Kanan had said, and each time it stabbed at her heart like a bunch of little daggers. This was a horrible nightmare, but without the backup plan of waking up.

As she approached the hotel, a loud clanging sound shook her. Eyes wide, she tentatively tip-toed towards the sound, moving along to the side of the hotel. Putting her hands on the wall, she leaned over and peered down into the gloom. One of the trash cans that had been placed out for pickup had been knocked over, and something was busying itself with the spilled-over contents.

"A raccoon...?" She'd never seen raccoons get at the hotel's trash before. Any wild animals were usually dealt with by pest control. Well, it must've been hungry, so she didn't feel good about calling someone to deal with it. What harm was it doing anyway? Besides, raccoons were kind of cute. At least, she thought so. She remembered Dia having a very different opinion about them... Ahh, she didn't want to keep thinking about Dia, or Kanan either.

The raccoon moved away from the garbage, but it was stepping gingerly. Mari frowned, noticing how it wasn't putting any weight on its right front paw. It must've gotten hurt somehow. Well now she felt worse. She didn't want to leave the poor animal in pain. Weren't raccoons dangerous, though? What if it was rabid? That wasn't a risk she should take. She should find a veterinarian and call them to come help. What if it got away before then, though? It was pretty late. No vet was likely open- Wait, where'd it go?

She looked up and down the alley, but the raccoon was nowhere to be seen. There was no way it had gotten away that quickly, though. Not on that hurt foot. Frowning, she looked down, only to realize that the raccoon had made its way to her feet. With a surprised shout, she jumped back, but even this exclamation didn't make the creature skitter away. Instead it stayed there curiously, as if it was eyeing Mari. It made her feel weird.

The raccoon stood up on its hind legs and pawed at Mari's shoes with its good paw. At once, Mari felt her heart warmed by this adorable creature. It wasn't acting like a wild, rabid animal. There couldn't be anything dangerous about the cute little guy. She knew that Dia would be scolding her for even thinking of picking it up, but she wasn't listening to Dia anymore. This was what she wanted to do, and nobody else got to choose it for her. Not anymore.

She stuck her hand down, muscles tensing as she prepared to pull it back the moment it looked as if it'd get bit. The raccoon didn't jump for her hand, though. It just stared up curiously, or at least that's how it appeared to her. She didn't profess to being able to read the minds of animals. Her hand moved down inch by inch, waiting for any sudden movements that would make her have to worry. They never came, though. Her hand got all the way down to the raccoon's back, where she was able to stroke its fur without any problems. The way it chittered brought a smile to her face, even though she hadn't thought she'd do anything close to smiling for the rest of the night.

She gently picked the raccoon up, noticing what looked to be purple on its fur under the moon's light. "Aren't you just the shiniest thing? I'm gonna give you a bath, and then I'll take you to the vet tomorrow. You'll be good as new!" The raccoon chittered right back, and Mari smiled brightly. This was her new friend now. A raccoon wouldn't tell her to move away, or anything at all. It was a raccoon, and raccoons couldn't talk.

Feeling an additional pep in her step, Mari cradled the raccoon in her arms and took it up to her room, avoiding the various nighttime hotel workers, who would surely snitch on her to her dad if they saw her trying to smuggle a raccoon up to her room. No one was going to stop her from doing what she wanted anymore. She was a new Mari. The world would be her oyster! Or at least this specific town would be.

* * *

Dia was surprised when her phone vibrated with a text from Kanan. It made her think about what Mari had said about them being too busy to text her for all those months. Yeah, busy... Her and Kanan had barely spoken the moment Mari's helicopter had flown out of sight. Neither of them had texted one another longer than either of them had texted Mari. There were still bad feelings between them from that world-shattering moment. She hadn't expected to hear from Kanan again, especially since she wasn't coming back for their third year. Had something happened?

 _'Thank you.'_ Huh? Thank you for what? Dia wasn't sure what Kanan was talking about. She had to check to make sure there wasn't some line of conversation that she'd missed. Nope. Not even from ten months ago did 'thank you' fit anywhere. What was going on, then? Lying back in her bed, she texted back the obvious question: thank you for what? _'For trying to set Mari straight.'_ Oh.

Dia felt that familiar knot start forming in her stomach. So Mari had gone to Kanan and mentioned what happened. She held a morbid curiosity about what had happened afterwards. What had Kanan said to her? Had they made up, or had Kanan stood her ground?

 _'You saw her? What happened?'_ She had to know. The answer was important to her, even if it filled her with oncoming dread. She kept her phone open and in her hands, staring at it as if it would make Kanan text faster. Her willpower had been weak the entire rest of the day, and she was glad that Mari had come to see her when she did. Otherwise there may have been a different outcome.

 _'I told her what she needed to hear. Things will be fine now.'_ So it was something serious, then. Dia sighed, unsure of how to respond. Mari surely got the message now. Was that for the best, though? She felt less sure about it every hour since she'd left Mari in her office. It wasn't a new sensation, though. She'd been regretting what they'd done since the moment they'd done it.

She had to push those thoughts out of her mind, though. They were selfish. Those thoughts were about what she wanted, not about Mari. Well, it was about Mari, in a roundabout way. It was always about Mari. Since the blonde had come into her life, she'd done numerous things all in what were likely vain attempts to impress her. Kanan was right, though: that wasn't what she needed. Mari was rich, beautiful, and ever-surprisingly talented. She needed more than a crush from a socially awkward girl in a small, quiet town.

These were the times when she got mad at Kanan. Without really realizing it, she had taken the only person who truly spoke to certain parts of Dia's heart away from her. For all of her pomp and circumstance, she had often been run over by Kanan when it came to important decision making. It was never anything trivial, since Dia and Mari had always argued amongst each other about who would get their way. When it was something potentially life-altering, though, Kanan got her way. She hadn't even truly realized it until now.

Her phone had gone so long without being interacted with, it went black in her hands. She sat up and let it fall from her hands and into her lap. This had all been a horrible mistake. Why was thinking for herself being selfish? She had never been allowed to make any truly important decisions for herself. Everything about her life had already been planned for her. For all the strength she thought she had, when it really counted, she allowed herself to be pushed around.

"Mari..." She had pushed away Mari despite everything that her heart had told her. Maybe there was still a chance to fix it. She had to try, at least. Resolute, she stood up and rushed out of her room, leaving her phone behind. It wasn't important, and it wouldn't do to call anyway. This was something she needed to say face to face, and there was only one way she knew how to accomplish that: the dock.

She ran as much as she could the entire way there. Though her body quickly became exhausted, and her hammering heart begged her to stop, she refused to pause for a break. It was getting way too late. She was already pushing it to a point that would be past when she needed to sleep. This wasn't a good example for Ruby, but hopefully she wouldn't learn of her dalliance.

When she got to the dock, she took a moment to breathe, bending over and placing her hands on her knees. She couldn't take too long, though. Her heavy legs pulled her to the green light, which she turned on and watched as it bathed the area in its glow. Then she glanced up at the familiar balcony, praying that Mari would appear on it, summoned by the light as she always was.

Her praying was for naught. Nobody came to the balcony. She waited for what felt like half an hour, though without her phone she didn't know the true passage of time. Whatever the true amount of time was, it was wasted. Mari never showed up.

"Mari..." Dia didn't want to admit to herself that she was crying, even if she could feel the wetness on her cheeks. She was too late. Her's and Kanan's words were too harsh, and Mari had decided to forsake them. Just like they had wanted... No, just like Kanan wanted. Still, was it all truly Kanan's fault? She could've said no. She could've grown a spine and fought back against something she wanted no part in. But no, she'd done nothing of the sort. She'd not only let it happen, but she'd been complicit in it. All to be selfless... Well, she felt selflessly stupid now.

Hanging her head, she went back to the light and turned it off, then walked back home. Until the balcony was no longer in sight, she kept looking back in the hopes that Mari would appear. It never happened, though. Maybe that's what she deserved though. After all, she had played her part in chasing Mari away. Now that she was back, she would rightfully want nothing to do with Dia, especially after what she had said. Her heart felt heavy, yet strangely empty. Maybe this was the penance she had to pay.

All the while, a silent feline padded unseen behind her, always keeping its startling blue eyes on her.


	5. Chapter 5: Assessing the Damage

"I didn't really expect this to be how it went..." Umi frowned to herself, idly parting the clouds beneath her to look at the Earth below. Kanan was still laying on her bed, staring unmoving at the ceiling. She could feel the girl's frustration and guilt pummeling her senses. Her first charge was a tough nut to crack, that was for sure. She hadn't even been able to approach her in feline form because she knew that Kanan wasn't yet ready. Would she ever be?

"That tends to be how it is when it's your first charge." She looked up to find Maki approaching her, taking a seat next to her with a small smile on her face. It reminded her of a random conversation she'd had with Eli some time ago, though time was rather relative when it came to angels. According to the veteran guardian, it had taken quite a lot to break Maki out of her shell. She had been either shy or abrasive, sometimes simultaneously. By the time Umi had joined their ranks, however, Maki seemed much more approachable. She was still somewhat reserved, more than any other member of their little group, but Umi had never experienced any problems communicating with her. Assumedly Eli was to thank for that.

"She's just so... stubborn." Sighing, Umi laid back and stared up at the endless skies of white and gold. "If she just listened to Mari, my work wouldn't even be required."

"At least she keeps you in business, right?" Another voice entered the conversation: this time it was Eli. Chuckling quietly, she took a seat on the other side of Umi, making her quickly sit back up. "I know it's tough to figure out what to do when you can't even really communicate with your charge."

"Without breaking the rules, anyway," Maki chimed in, glancing over at Eli. Eli blushed and coughed into her fist, deciding it was best not to look Maki's way.

"I don't want to give up, though." Umi's concern changed to determination, looking towards Eli. "I want to prove that I'm deserving of my guardianship. Things will work out if Kanan and Mari just talk to each other without all the vitriol. But how will I get them together..."

"You should ask Honoka." Umi looked at Eli with a perplexed expression. The same Honoka who ended up disguising herself as a dog rather than a cat like the others? Not like she was the only one, though... and one person in particular she couldn't say anything bad about."I know it may not seem like it, but Honoka actually comes up with a lot of plans."

"Are they any good?"

"Well..."

"No." Maki was sometimes too blunt for her own good, even now. "But you can just take her advice and modify it so it's... well, better." Ouch. Good thing Honoka wasn't around to hear that.

"Well, it's better than nothing." She smiled and stood up, giving both of them a grateful look. "Thank you, you two. I'm glad I can come to you for advice." She walked off after that, assumedly to find Honoka. Eli caught Maki's eye, smirking at her.

"Wh-What's that smirk for?"

"It sounds like Umi can come to you for advice now, huh?" Eli couldn't stop grinning, patting Maki on the shoulder. "You're a regular senpai now, aren't you?"

"Don't say that!" Maki was blushing rather fiercely, swatting Eli's hand away and beginning to pout. "That sounds so weird." It totally didn't sound nice to be considered a mature senpai that someone could go get advice from. ...Okay, so maybe it was a little appealing. She could get used to this, actually. Not that she'd ever say that out loud, though.

"Maki, you're smiling about it, aren't you?"

"Liar! I've never smiled."

* * *

"I still can't believe they fell into the ocean." Honoka burst into giggles after mentioning Chika and Riko falling into the water for the third time. She couldn't help it: it wasn't often that she got to experience something that funny firsthand. Or firstpaw, rather. Plus, Rin was a perfect audience, laughing every time it was mentioned. Kotori would laugh politely as well, but she wouldn't fall into hysterics like the ginger duo.

"You and Maki have your work cut out of you." Rin kept giggling, thinking about the two of them hanging around together. It made sense, since their charges lived next door to each other, but the two of them had such different personalities. Since her own charge wasn't yet ready for her grand appearance, maybe she could spend some time watching the fireworks that were bound to happen.

"It'll be fun!" Oh Honoka, ever the optimist. "We can hang around the inn together, and I can chase her around outside! It's the natural order of the animal kingdom, after all."

"I think she'd claw your face off before that happens."

"How are you going to get closer to her anyway?" Kotori brought up a more serious point, drawing attention towards her. "Chika's family already has a dog. What if they don't want another pet?"

"I've thought of that already." Honoka's face was surprisingly serious, mixed with her usual determination. "I just have to be a guardian for her. That doesn't mean I have to be her pet, as long as I'm there for her. Besides, she's like Rin's charge: she's not ready yet. When she is, though, I'll be there to keep guiding her."

"Aww Honoka, that's so mature of you!" Kotori beamed brightly, pulling Honoka into a hug and ruffling her hair. "You're such a good girl! A very good girl!"

"Kotoriii, I'm not a dog!" Honoka pouted and wriggled around in Kotori's grasp. "...Okay, wait, scratch right there. Oh yeah, that's nice. That's incredible!" A loud cough caused them both to look up, finding Umi staring down at them, one eyebrow cocked up.

"Umi!" Kotori stood up with a jolt, letting Honoka crash down to the ground. Smiling brightly, she bounded over to Umi and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, making her blush. Rin cupped her hands and shouted 'Ooooh!' "How are you doing today?"

"I'm... I'm doing fine." Though embarrassed, she returned Kotori's kiss, which made her smile even brighter. "I wanted to speak with Honoka, actually." Hearing her name, Honoka sat up with a nervous expression.

"I didn't touch Kotori, I swear! She was ruffling my hair, that's all!"

"That... wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about. Though maybe it should be now." Honoka paled at that. She didn't want Umi to try and shoot her with an arrow... again. "Anyway, come on. I need to talk to you." She went over and took Honoka's hand, pulling her onto her feet and away from Kotori and Rin.

"What, over there? Away from any other witnesses?"

"God is the only witness you need." Honoka immediately started praying, shooting one last desperate look at Kotori. All she got back was a simple smile. She was going to die, wasn't she?

Umi took her over to the tables that the original four used to sit at, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Before you say anything, I'm not here to berate you about anything. I wanted to ask you for advice, actually."

"Advice? From me?" Honoka sat down across from Umi, utterly perplexed. Out of all of them, why wouldn't she go to Eli for advice? She'd never gotten the impression that Umi thought she was anything more than the big, excitable dog that Kotori had. "What about?"

"About my charge. I asked Eli, but she said I should ask you. I don't know why."

"Oh, so I was your last resort choice, then?"

"Should I get my bow?"

"No ma'am." Honoka laughed nervously, leaning forward on the table. "So what's going on with your charge?"

"She's hard to handle," Umi admitted, leaning back in her chair and groaning. "I don't get why she's acting like this. When did teenagers start acting so... moody?"

"Since ever, Umi. That's just how teenagers act... and how some adults act too." Honoka laughed, though she still didn't understand why Eli had said she would be helpful. Chika wasn't anywhere close to moody. "You just have to let them talk it out."

"I know, but I don't know how to get them to talk it out. She needs to speak with Mari, but she won't listen to reason. How am I supposed to get near her when she's not ready?" Umi sighed and put an elbow on the table, resting her chin on her hand. "I don't know how to help her."

"Well..." It was becoming clearer to Honoka what Eli meant by her being able to help. She was talking about the plan Honoka had put into action, starting with leading Chika over to Riko. Then that meant there was something similar Umi could do with Kanan. Yeah, that made sense. "What you need to do is not necessarily push yourself into her life. You just need to... guide her."

"How do I do that?"

"There are ways you can make things happen without revealing yourself to your charge. You just need to get Kanan over to Mari, and make sure they keep interacting so that eventually they'll hopefully start talking it out. Oh!" Honoka suddenly had a big smile on her face. "Nozomi is Mari's charge! She can help you with that!"

"Oh... I... could do that..." Umi shuddered thinking about trying to team up with Nozomi. Out of all the members of their group, she was the most teasing, something that Umi was overly susceptible too. Her pride and embarrassment would get in the way, allowing Nozomi to get under her skin. If it was the only way, though... "I'll go talk to her, then..."

"That's the spirit!" Umi stood up to go find Nozomi, with Honoka clapping her on the back for support. She smiled, but it was a strained one. Hopefully they could work together without blowing their covers right off the bat.

* * *

"You're incorrigible, really." Nico sighed and did an unnecessary hair flip. It wasn't that she was surprised Nozomi had decided to take the form of a stupid trash cat, but she still felt the need to complain about it. "Everybody's supposed to be a regular cat, you know? I can't believe your charge is crazy enough to take in a wild raccoon."

"Is it really that surprising?" Despite her choice of animal, Nozomi purred like a cat. A devious little minx. "After all, your charge was crazy enough to take you in."

"You eat food from the trash. Don't even talk to me right now."

"We shouldn't argue..." Hanayo twiddled her thumbs nervously, her eyes darting between Nico's glare and Nozomi's smug smile. "Everybody's a wonderful guardian, no matter which animal they chose."

"That's right, Nico." Grinning, Nozomi grabbed Hanayo's face and squished her cheeks. "Panacchi here is a bunny, after all. Do you think her charge is crazy for taking her in?" Despite having a look only of surprise, Nico still felt guilty looking into Hanayo's eyes. She hadn't even been talking about her! That was all for Nozomi.

"I wasn't talking about Hanayo, and you know it." She grumbled and crossed her arms, looking away from both of them. Things were able to settle down after that, with Nozomi releasing Hanayo's cheeks and sitting back down. Soon, her smile was replaced by a look that was more contemplative in nature. It didn't take Nico long to notice. "What's with that face?"

"It's my face, Nicocchi."

"You're about to lose that face." Nico just sighed and rolled her eyes. This was the same Nozomi she'd had to deal with for decades. "Why are you looking so... sad, or something?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about something." Nozomi leaned back on her hands, noticing that Nico was waiting for her to continue. "I really like Mari. She reminds me of me, actually. A little bit, anyway. I feel like there's a connection there, like that's why I was chosen to be her guardian. It's fate, you know?"

"Is it? I didn't really see it like that." Nico shrugged, used to Nozomi's talk of fate and the spiritual by now. "Besides, I'm nothing like my charge, but I'm her guardian, so what does that say?" Nozomi gave her a look. "Don't give me that look. I know what look that is. That's your 'You say that, but you're actually more alike than you care to admit' look, and that's a lie. You go to hell. You go to hell and you die."

"That's a very specific look," Hanayo murmured. She had been thinking about the same thing as Nozomi, though. "I feel the same way, though. Ruby is a lot like me when I was her age, but with a sister. Though Nico was kind of like my older sister at times." That made Nico beam with pride.

"Really? She always looked like your younger sister to me." Her smile and optimism: gone. Wasn't her suffering supposed to be finished when she went to Heaven? She was going to say something back, and assuredly it was something good, but Umi suddenly showed up. Looking at the three of them, she looked somewhat awkward.

"Uhm, can I talk to Nozomi, please?" She looked at Nico and Hanayo. "Privately." Immediately Hanayo's face went red as she covered her mouth. Nico started grinning, while Nozomi pretended to be shocked. She wasn't doing a good job of not smiling, though.

"Oh Umi, I'm flattered, but I'm already spoken for." Umi quickly followed Hanayo in the blushing category.

"Th-That is not what I'm talking about! Just come on! Please?" She knew this was a bad idea. Of course she'd be teased immediately. At least Nozomi didn't pile on any more. She just smiled and walked away from the others, with Umi following her. Usually these kind of talks were reserved for the table that the original four guardians always sat at, but this time Nozomi took her to a gilded bench. She sat down and patted the seat next to her, which Umi took.

"So what's on your mind, Umi?"

"Well, I was talking to Honoka about my charge, and she's... well, really stubborn. I want to help her, because she's hurting herself and her friends unnecessarily, but I can't do it. Not on my own. Since this involves Mari, and she's your charge, I was hoping you could... help me?"

"Oh? You want to team up?" Nozomi smiled brightly, slinging an arm over Umi's shoulders. "I'd love to! I don't even need to know what we're doing. We can be the dynamic duo! The saucy spiritualist and the stoic Sonoda! Ooh, let's come up with a theme song!"

"Who would we even be introducing ourselves to?..." She was going to get Honoka back for this suggestion. Well, if it all worked out, then at least the end would justify the means... right?

"We can get Maki to play the piano, and Nico will be our singer!" Yup, Honoka was toast.


	6. Chapter 6: Please Stop Exhuming the Past

"Okay, we got this, right?" Chika was trying to psyche herself and You up, but she looked too nervous to be truly convincing. Her voice occasionally stumbled as she repeated her chants of "We got this. It's all good. This is gonna work." Normally You would be right beside her, lapping up every word of encouragement, but she couldn't even pretend like it was making an impact. She was just sitting on a wooden crate, head down and staring at the concrete.

"Why are you two acting like this?" Riko stared at her two classmates in bewilderment. Maybe this was how they always acted. She was new to this, after all. The seaside students obviously acted much different than those in the big city. How had she even gotten to this point? In class, Chika had made a huge drama scene about asking her to join her fledgling idol group, and it made everybody in the room stare at them. Horrified and embarrassed, she had said no and briskly left the classroom.

Yet somehow, after all that spectacle, Chika had still gotten her to come with them after school to pass out fliers and buff up their presence in the town. She had promised nothing, hadn't made any notion that she'd join an idol group, but Chika's huge, unyielding smile made her feel that the decision had been made without her input. There was something about that smile, though. It was so... calming. So lovely. She wished that she could explain it better.

That smile was nowhere to be seen now, though. They'd barely handed out any fliers when she'd asked the two of them a simple question: had they gotten their group approved? That sent the entire enterprise straight to hell, as their eyes had widened considerably. The two of them looked at each other, then ended up in the positions they were now. For some reason, getting their idol group approved caused for such hysterics. She was starting to feel better about not joining.

"We got this, Riko!" Chika half-shouted, pacing around in a big circle. Riko had a feeling that Chika was trying to convince herself more than anyone else. Why though? What was the big deal? "Oh, what's the use?" Sighing dramatically, Chika sat down next to You, slapping the fliers against her knee. "We don't got this."

"Isn't that a little extreme? You can just go ask the student council president to approve your club." Maybe they should've considered joining the drama club instead. She didn't even know why she was still standing there, being the voice of reason. Maybe because the two of them were the only girls in the school she'd been able to hold a conversation with in her short time there. Even if You didn't seem to like her all that much...

"Riko, you just moved here. Don't pretend like you know anything." You's biting tone took Riko off guard. She seemed to immediately realize how she sounded, though, looking over at Riko with a hint of guilt before returning to boring holes in the sidewalk. "We can't just ask her to approve our club."

"But... why not?" It didn't make any sense. New groups had to ask the student council president for permission to exist. At least, that's how it worked back at her old school. Maybe things worked differently here.

"Because Dia's a big meany!" Chika stood up suddenly, the fliers falling out of her hands. "Aw crap!" She hurriedly attempted to corral all the fliers she dropped, with You jumping up to help her. Riko could only sigh and shake her head, feeling a severe dose of secondhand embarrassment. The two of them were quickly able to round up all the fliers, though, and this time Chika was able to keep her grip on them. "She would never allow an idol group in the school."

"And why is that?"

"Because her idol group failed. Now she has to destroy any fun that ever existed." Chika pouted, crossing her arms and holding the fliers to her chest. "Now I can barely speak to a good friend anymore..." Her expression became somber, and Riko felt a twinge at her heartstrings. Then Chika shook it off, her face lighting up with what appeared to be inspiration. "Wait! I've got an idea!"

"Really?" You's expression changed too, mirroring Chika's excitement. "What is it?"

"We'll get Riko to make the group!" Immediately You's face fell, taking on a look more akin to disgust. Riko didn't notice though, too surprised to even look You's way.

"Me? I'm... supposed to what?!" She wasn't even a member of the group! She'd never agreed to this. Why did it fall onto her now?

"Dia doesn't know you, though! You're a new student, so you have no stake in the idol discourse!" Chika looked way too proud of her new idea. "If you decide to start the group, and say you have three members, then you could get it all started! By the time she realizes what's happened, it'll be too late!" Once again, Riko was about to point out that she hadn't joined their group, but surprisingly, You stood up for her.

"Chika, Riko never said she would join the group. You can't just force her to join when she doesn't want to." Of course, Riko had no way of knowing that You wasn't so much defending her as attempting to keep her out so she could keep Chika's eyes on her. It seemed more noble without that little sticking point. She looked over at Riko, who was giving her a look of thanks. It made her feel guilty, but she didn't regret it. Chika was supposed to look at her, not the newcomer. Who had been her friend for all these years, anyway?

"But..." Chika sighed, shaking her head. "You're right. I'm sorry, Riko. I got carried away." She smiled sadly, and now Riko was the one who felt guilty. "I didn't mean to drag you into our group without considering how you felt. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Chika." Riko was able to smile genuinely. She didn't hold towards any ill will towards Chika. There was no malice behind what she did. It was just over-excitement, that was all. "I should probably get home, but I hope you two find a way to get your idol group started."

"Thank you! Bye bye!" Chika waved at Riko, while You gave a half-hearted one in response. They both watched her leave, then turned to each other. "Alright, we've got to come up with a new plan."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something good." You smiled, relieved that Chika hadn't pushed the issue with Riko. If she had joined their group, and gotten them started, then she would've been done. She wouldn't have been able to compete with her when it came to Chika. Though now they didn't have a way of getting the group started in the first place. "Oh, wait! What about Kanan? She can talk to Dia and make her do it."

"I don't know..." Kanan never wanted to talk about idols anymore. She didn't want to talk about Dia either. The death of Aqours had changed everything for the worse, so Chika didn't really think it was a viable option. They didn't really have another choice, though. Even if she and Dia hadn't talked in so long, Kanan had a better shot of getting them approved then they did on their own. "We can ask her, I guess."

She wasn't looking forward to this, but what choice did they have? They could give up, but she wasn't going to do that. She wanted to be an idol so fricken' bad, and she wasn't going to let her newfound dream slip away so easily. "You know what? Yeah, we can ask her! We're gonna be idols, You! No matter who tries to stand in our way!"

"Yousoro!" Now that was the confident Chika she loved so much. You could smile easily now, walking side by side with Chika as they abandoned their attempts at handing out fliers and headed for Kanan's house. This was more like it. The dynamic duo, back at it again and ready to make something happen. They talked animatedly between each other, confidence returning to them in full force.

* * *

Kanan hadn't expected to find Chika and You on her porch when she heard the door knock. In Chika's arms was a bundle of papers for something that she couldn't discern. Maybe they were selling something. "Hey Chika, You. What's up?"

"Kanan! We need your help!"

"My help? With what?" That brought a wave of nostalgia on. It was like old times. Being one year older, Kanan was the one that Chika and You had gone to when they needed help with something. It made her feel like a reliable friend, and she missed those interactions. Their friendship hadn't really been the same for quite some time now.

"We want to start an idol group!" The nostalgia really never ended, did it? Kanan felt her stomach twist itself into a knot, not wanting to even hear the word 'idol' anymore. She regretted ever starting that stupid idol group. All it caused was pain. She had thought that Chika understood that. "I know that you're all anti-gung ho about idols, but we can't do this without you. You know that Dia wouldn't listen to us if we brought the group up to her."

"And she shouldn't." Kanan folded her arms and sighed, shaking her head. "You don't want to start an idol group, Chika. It's not worth it."

"It was worth it when you started one." Chika was not backing down today, no sir and/or ma'am. She knew exactly how Kanan felt, but she wasn't going to call it quits. After all those times Kanan used to stand up for her and You, it was time for her to stand up for Kanan. "You loved idols, Kanan. I remember it so well. Watching you three practice was a lot of fun for me."

"Chika..." Kanan's tone had a dangerous edge to it, but Chika refused to stop.

"It's not fair that you had to stop just because of what happened! You're not alone in this, though." Chika grabbed Kanan's hand, which surprised her enough to lose the warning glint in her eyes. "Dia may have pushed you away, but we never have, and we never will. You can start Aqours over, with us! You know we'd never abandon you like she did!"

"Ahaha, I, uh... I know, Chika." Oh boy. Okay, so truth time: she hadn't really divulged all the details about what happened that split her, Dia, and Mari apart. It wasn't that she had lied. She just... hadn't said everything. Or much of anything really. It wasn't something she had really wanted to talk about, truthfully. That was understandable, right? It was a really rough time, and thankfully neither Chika nor You had tried hard to pry into what had happened. That must've meant they formed their own ideas about what had happened, though. This was... This was probably not good.

"So please, will you talk to her? We want to be idols so badly!" She clasped her hands together and bowed before Kanan, with You following suit. Kanan laughed and scratched her neck awkwardly. This was not how she expected this to go. She could sense Chika's determination, though, like an aura surrounding her. It reminded her of how she had been not that many years ago. That still felt like a lifetime ago, though...

"I... I'm not even a student anymore, Chika. I'm helping my family at the diving shop this year."

"You can still talk to her, though. I know things are really tense, but you have us right behind you, Kanan!" Chika gave her a thumbs up and a big smile. "It'll be just like old times, right?" Kanan sighed, but she didn't want to dampen their enthusiasm. She should be grateful that they still wanted to talk to her after she sort of shunted them aside for Dia and Mari, then just shunted everyone away in general. Their friendship seemed to have remained intact, even after all that time.

"I'll... talk to her. I'll see what I can do, but no promises, alright?" Both Chika and You cheered, latching onto Kanan for a triple hug. She hugged them back, feeling a smile tugging at her lips. It made her feel warm to have her friends around her again. Like it was better times. She could try, at least. For their sakes, and for Dia's too. Because she hadn't said anything, they now had this extremely negative impression of Dia, which wasn't all that warranted. She could at least get them their idol group, and then everybody could be happy. Kind of.

What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

That night, Riko pulled a chair out onto her balcony and sat down, her viola cradled in her arms. She was hesitant about drawing the bow across the strings, but she eventually did it. The singular note she played rang out across the night, soft yet so loud in her ears. She pulled the bow away from the instrument, staring at it as if it was a weapon. Sighing, her shoulders slumped as she gave up as soon as she'd begun. Her fears had filtered into every instrument, it seemed.

Every time she looked at her piano, she felt sick to her stomach. It dredged up horrible memories that she so badly wanted to purge from her mind. Worse, now she felt the same when she looked at her viola. She hoped that playing it would make her feel better, but it hadn't. Even in the warm spring air, she felt chilled to the bone. She was such an awful, awful failure.

Standing up, she decided to just go back inside and contemplate all the ways in which she was a failure. She was stopped, however, by the sound of a loud meow from the street below. Looking down, she was surprised to find a cat there, staring up at her. Could it be the same cat that had been looking at her shortly after she'd moved in? What were the chances of that? Not very likely.

She decided to put it out of mind and go back inside, but another louder, insistent meow stopped her once more. Approaching the edge of the balcony, she looked down at the cat. Once it seemed like she wasn't attempting to go back inside, it started padding towards her. It obviously couldn't get all the way up to her, but it stopped beneath her balcony, sitting down and looking up at her. Was it expecting something? Was it expecting her to play?

"Do you... want me to play?" Was she really calling down to a wild animal? This was what her life had become. She was the crazy person who talked to cats. That was going to do the opposite of wonders for her job prospects. Of course, the cat didn't respond. Cats couldn't respond with a 'yes' or a 'please stop, you're embarrassing yourself'. They could just meow or hiss, and that was it.

It didn't leave, though. It just sat there, looking up at her. She felt so strange, like this animal knew more about her than she wanted anyone to. Maybe she could try to play again. She could at least try. If it didn't work, it wasn't like a cat could tell anyone about her failures.

Still standing there, she tucked the viola beneath her chin and drew the bow across the strings again. This time she didn't stop after just one note, playing a simple song that was familiar to her. She closed her eyes and let the music wash over her, memories of playing it as a child overtaking her. There was no need for sheet music, as she knew every note by heart. It was so familiar, and comforting too.

When she finished, she opened her eyes and exhaled, looking at the night sky. That hadn't been so hard, had it? "Wow, that was incredible, Riko!" Wait, did the cat just talk to her?! She looked down, but the cat was still sitting there. It didn't look like it had suddenly gained the power to speak.

"Huh? Did you... Did you just speak?"

"Uh, yeah? I've been able to speak since I was two." Wait, that didn't sound like a cat. That sounded like...

"Chika?!" Riko whipped her head around to find Chika standing on the other balcony, staring at her in confusion. "Uh, I was... I didn't hear you appear."

"Who were you talking to?" Of course, Chika hadn't dropped the issue at hand. "Did you really think I couldn't talk? We talked a few hours ago."

"I know that! I, uh..." She sighed, utterly defeated. There wasn't any way to save face now. "I thought a cat was talking."

"Huh? A cat?"

"Yes... There's a cat below my balcony, and it was... listening to me play. I didn't know you were there, and I... thought it was talking to me." That probably sounded crazy.

"Huh, that's weird, Riko." Ouch. No filter, huh? "You play really well, though! That was beautiful! So you play the violin and the piano too?"

"It's a viola... Never mind. Yes, I do play both." Or used to, anyway. She omitted that part, though. "You... really liked it?"

"Yeah! It was incredible!" Chika leaned against her balcony, smiling at Riko. "I bet you'd be a great composer for our idol group... Ah, but I know you don't want to join. I didn't mean to bring it up again." Chika smiled guiltily, but it was Riko who really felt guilty. She shouldn't feel that way, though. It wasn't something she felt comfortable doing, and Chika had accepted that. Still, she felt bad that she wasn't helping the first person she could consider a friend in her new environs.

"It's okay, Chika. I know you didn't mean it." She smiled softly. "I can at least offer you support, though. If you get your idol group started, I'll cheer you and You on for every concert you do."

"Really?" Chika smiled brightly, bouncing on her feet. "Thank you, Riko! We'll perform our best just for you!" That statement made Riko blush, though she wasn't sure why it did. The conversation slowed down after that, and soon enough they were saying farewell. They both went into their respective bedrooms, but when Riko put her viola down, she remembered the chair she'd left out there.

She went out to grab the chair again, and then remembered yet another thing: the cat. Approaching the edge again, she looked over her balcony, down to the ground where the cat had been sitting. The spot was empty now, like nothing had been there at all. Where did that cat keep going? Did it even like her playing? She suspected that she'd never get those answers, and asking those questions was part of her ongoing insanity. Deciding to never mention these things to anybody ever again, she grabbed the chair and took it back inside.


	7. Chapter 7: The Zookeeper

**Author's Note:** I've decided to change Nico's pet name (Laelaps) to Bastet, because I'm dumb and didn't think to look up what Laelaps actually meant.

* * *

"Hmm..." Laying on her stomach, Hanamaru stared curiously at the bunny sitting in front of her. It twitched its nose and wiggled its little cotton tail, making her giggle. Ruby had been right: Tsubasa was an adorable bunny. That was only part of the equation, though. How was Ruby supposed to take care of a pet without the rest of her family finding out? That's why Hanamaru had come over: to offer her assistance.

"What should I do, Hanamaru? I don't want my parents to find out... Oh, but it's so cute! I can't just let it wander around in the wild. What if it gets scooped up by a bird?" Hanamaru didn't think there were that many birds flying around Uchiura that could scoop up an entire rabbit, but she also agreed that it wouldn't be right to just let it wander the town alone.

"Well..." She thought on it for a moment longer, then an idea came to her. "What if I take care of Tsubasa? It'll have a safe place to stay, and you can come over any time you want to pet it and take care of it." Ruby's eyes widened, a relieved shine in them.

"Y-You would do that?"

"Of course! That's what friends are for, zura!" Smiling brightly, Ruby gave Hanamaru as best a hug as she could, considering her friend's position on the ground. They hung out and talked some more after that, playing with the bunny until Dia got home. When they heard the door slam shut, Ruby jumped up in alarm.

"O-Oh no, Dia! What are we gonna do?!"

"Don't panic, Ruby. Here..." She grabbed her backpack and unzipped it, trying to wave Tsubasa over. "Here, bunny bunny bunny." Ruby didn't really think that was going to work, and yet the bunny hopped on over and backed its way into the backpack. "Zura!"

"Oh wow..." Ruby whispered, though she was still nervous. Any errant noises would alert Dia, and then they'd be in a world of trouble. This was the best idea they had, though, so she would have to go with it. The two of them cautiously opened the door and peered outside, but Dia wasn't anywhere to be seen. Still, they were careful to head to the door without making any excess noise. Still, Dia didn't appear.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school, zura," Hanamaru whispered, smiling as she and Ruby parted ways. When she had turned her back to walk away, Ruby closed the door and smiled to herself. At least Tsubasa would be safe under Hanamaru's care. Plus, she could see her bunny any time she wanted, as long as she went over to Hanamaru's. Which worked perfectly, since she didn't really need an excuse to go see her best friend.

After locking up, she went over to Dia's room, standing outside the door. It was closed, though that didn't mean Dia was in there. After all, she always kept it closed, regardless of if she was there or not. Plus, there was no light coming from the slit beneath the door. Ruby wouldn't dare intrude on her sister just to see if she was there, so she tiptoed over to the bathroom, to see if maybe she had gone there. The door was closed there too, with the lights off. When she tested the knob, it twisted without effort, meaning it was unlocked.

Ruby frowned, staring at the door. They had always used to greet each other after school, but things had changed. All that time hadn't dulled the unease any. She just wished everything was back to the way it used to be, but that just wasn't going to happen. Ah, but she shouldn't dwell on the past anymore. Dia had told her that, even if it was tough advice to follow.

She just wanted to be able to have a normal relationship with her sister again.

* * *

"Come on, it's not that bad!" Yoshiko groaned as she again tried to get her new cat into her backpack. Bastet, however, was being difficult. It was seemingly wary of her backpack, refusing to pad into it. "I can't keep you here without supervision! My mom would kill me!" She maybe hadn't told her mom that she'd adopted a pet, so there was no way she could let her find out. Otherwise she'd been in major trouble."Pleeease?"

Finally, reluctantly, Bastet got into the backpack, with Yoshiko pumping her fist in triumph. She picked up her backpack and zipped it up, ignoring the hiss of protest. Hopefully her cat wouldn't start hissing up a storm and alert her mom, or tear up her papers with its claws. Nobody would believe the old 'my cat clawed my homework' excuse.

Luckily she was able to get out of the house without incident, and she rewarded her loyal follower - no, pet, just pet - by unzipping the backpack and letting it breathe. Bastet popped its head out of the backpack and looked around, more peaceful now as they made their way to the bus. She had to zip things back up before they got on the bus though. No pets allowed without an exemption, which of course she didn't have.

The previous day, she had bought some cat food, which she'd smuggled into her backpack as well. Might as well not let it starve the entire day, after all. So before they got to the school, she opened the ziplock bag she'd placed some of the pellets in and put it in the main compartment, making Bastet promise to be careful and not make a mess while eating. Yes, she was talking to a cat. So what?

School didn't even end up that bad. She didn't even Naruto run out of the building once, so that was a stark improvement. Nobody side-eyed her or picked on her at any point. That was already a step up from middle school. More than a step up. It was an entire flight of stairs... up.

She was planning on eating lunch alone, which was just fine. It was just something she had gotten used to, and she no longer minded having just herself as company. Besides, she technically wouldn't be alone. Not with Bastet in her backpack. However, fate seemed to decide it was time to intervene then, sending her onto a path with a familiar foe.

"Yoshiko!" She cringed on instinct at hearing her real name, though she had tried so hard to get used to it. When she realized who was calling her name, she cringed again. Of course it was Hanamaru. Apparently her past just couldn't leave her alone. Hanamaru didn't seem to notice - or care - about her dilemma, coming over to her with a warm, lazy smile. "Wanna eat lunch with me and Ruby, zura?"

"Uh..." She didn't really have a good excuse to say no. There was just something about any part of her past being dredged up that she didn't like. "I always eat alone." She had meant for that to sound final, but from the look on Hanamaru's face, it must've made her sound pitiful. "What's that look for?"

"Don't you get lonely, zura?" The truthful answer was yes, but she wasn't ready to drop any more truth bombs.

"N-No. I'm used to it. I mean, I like it. I like eating alone." Her face seemed even more pitying. "Don't look at me like that, Zuramaru!"

"You shouldn't have to sit alone, Yoshiko. You should eat with us!" Before Yoshiko could protest, Hanamaru had already grabbed her hand and started forcing her down the hall.

"W-Wait, I wanna eat alone! I'm not hungry! Zuramaruuu!" It was no use. She was dragged all the way to the library, though she didn't really put up much of a fight. If she had tried, she could've broken out of Hanamaru's grasp and zoomed out of the school, but she hadn't. She wasn't sure why that was, and she didn't really want to think about it. If she was going to be spending her lunchtime with other people, she was going to pout about it. She wouldn't go down without a fight.

Was that the best course of action, though? How could she say that she wanted to rehab her image if she was going to act like the same loner brat again? Even if it was Hanamaru, was that really a big deal? It'd been a decade since they'd last seen each other. Lord knows how Hanamaru still remembered her - lord knows how _she_ remembered Hanamaru - but that just meant she already had an in with someone. She hadn't even had to try to make normal conversation with someone: it had just been laid out in front of her. Plus, apparently Hanamaru had a friend that was eating with them. That was another connection she could make. Why was she so obstinate on throwing that opportunity away?

Of course, taking that opportunity was easier said than done. She felt awkward sitting in the library next to a girl she hadn't seen in a decade, and another she'd never met at all. Her name was Ruby, and she'd been Hanamaru's best friend for a couple of years. Not that that meant much to Yoshiko. She could only nod and sit at their table awkwardly. Thankfully nobody else was there to see. Who would've guessed that nobody wanted to spend their lunch period in the library?

She unzipped her backpack in order to get her lunch, making sure to maneuver her hand carefully around Bastet. However, her cat seemed to have other ideas. Bastet jumped out of her backpack and landed gracefully on the table, as if it was showing off for her new lunchmates. Yoshiko felt the color draining from her face as Hanamaru and Ruby stared wide-eyed at the new entrant to their luncheon. Bastet didn't seem to care about the ruckus it had just created, meowing and flicking its tail gracefully. "Uh... I can explain..."

"You have a cat, zura?" Hanamaru kept staring at the cat, while Ruby glanced between the cat and Yoshiko, looking overly nervous. What was her deal anyway? She'd been doing her best to hide behind Hanamaru the entire time they'd been there, short though it was. Wallflowers had more presence than she did.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. I found it on the sidewalk coming home from school. But don't tell anyone, got it? My mom would kill me if she knew." Bastet sauntered its way across the table, stopping in front of Ruby, who looked as if she feared it would claw her face off. Instead, Bastet hopped into her lap, nearly scaring the poor girl to death. Hanamaru had to put her hand over Ruby's mouth to keep her from screaming. Then it let out a cute purr and nuzzled Ruby's stomach.

"O-Oh!" Ruby's eyes widened, her guard slowly lowering as Bastet showed it meant no harm. She even smiled as she gently laid a hand on its head, starting to stroke down its back. Purring happily, Bastet got comfortable in Ruby's lap, which made Yoshiko frown. Wasn't that supposed to be _her_ cat? "S-So you can't keep your cat at your house, then?"

"No, so I gotta bring it with me when I can." Which obviously brought about other problems. She'd be in trouble regardless if she was caught with an animal in the school. That was why Bastet needed to get its furry butt back in her backpack.

"I have the same problem with my bunny." Ruby seemed a bit more confident now that they had something in common. "My family doesn't want me to have a pet."

"I'm keeping it for her to avoid suspicion," Hanamaru chimed in, as calm as ever. Unlike Ruby and Yoshiko, she was eating her lunch without a care in the world. "Why don't I hold onto your pet too? There's room in my house for two pets, zura." Huh, that was... tempting. She could still have her cat without fear of being caught.

"Wait, is this just a ploy to get me to hang out with you two?"

"Is it working?"

"... Maybe." Yoshiko sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She didn't really have a good argument against it. Better this than getting Bastet taken away to an animal shelter. "Alright fine, but you'd best be prepared for me to come over to feed and play with her. Her name is Bastet, by the way. Don't forget it."

"I won't." Hanamaru beamed proudly, finishing off her bento box before Ruby or Yoshiko had even started on their lunches. This was great! Not only did she get to have two cute animals roaming her house, but she had roped Yoshiko into a friendship with her and Ruby. Each new day of school just kept getting better and better. "Zuraaa!"

* * *

Hanamaru walked home after school in high spirits. Bastet was cradled lovingly in her arms, and she was even humming to herself. She had a good day at school, started to break through that demon shell that Yoshiko was always hiding behind, and got to take care of Yoshiko's cat as well. Things were really going well for her that day.

As she was walking home, Bastet started to squirm around in her arms. Figuring it just wanted to start walking on its own, she bent over to let it down. The moment she did, Bastet began to take off. "Oh no! Bastet!" In a panic, Hanamaru started to run after the black cat, though her weak stamina made her tired rather quickly. Still she pushed on, not wanting to have to go to school tomorrow and tell Yoshiko that she lost her cat. That would be bad, bad, bad. "Bastet!"

She found Bastet a thankfully short distance away, standing with its head up high while an unfamiliar orange cat ran circles around it. This cat seemed to have a lot of energy, and it seemed to know Bastet. Maybe they had been friends before Yoshiko had found it. She came up cautiously, but there was no need for that. The moment she got close enough, the orange cat changed course and started running around her legs instead.

"W-Woah, you sure are energetic, huh?" At her words, the orange cat stopped in front of her, then started to nuzzle her legs. Apparently she and her friends were attracting animals to themselves. She didn't mind, of course. Animals were adorable. She bent down to pet the new cat, and it responded favorably, rubbing against her hand and purring louder. "Aww, aren't you just the cutest?" There was a familiar hiss, and she saw Bastet padding over with narrowed eyes. "Aren't you just both the cutest?"

"Alright, we'd better get going, Bastet." They couldn't stay out too late. She had homework to do, after all. Moving around the other cat, she scooped Bastet up and began walking away, making sure to wave bye to the new cat beforehand. However, it continued to follow her, seemingly oblivious to what 'goodbye' meant. It seemed suspiciously similar to Yoshiko's tale about how she came about Bastet. This was a strange coincidence, if it _was_ a coincidence...

"Do you want to come with us, kitty?" The orange cat bounded forward in excitement, happily rubbing against Hanamaru's ankles. She giggled and smiled fondly, beckoning for it to follow. It did so without hesitation, purring the whole way there. So now there would be three animals living in the Kunikida household. That may be one too many, but Hanamaru wasn't someone who could just say no to housing an animal in need. Hopefully it would all work out.

Strangely enough, it seemed that all three of them had pets come to them out of the blue. It bonded them in a too strange to be coincidental way. She didn't know what it was, and she knew that neither Ruby nor Yoshiko would know what it was. Maybe it was just... fate. Maybe it was just fate.

* * *

"Isn't this great?!" Rin yowled excitedly as she tackled Nico to the ground, getting an aggressive growl for her troubles. Hanayo stood next to them, fidgeting worriedly as Nico tried to shove Rin off, but to no avail. "We're all roommates! Now we get to be with each other all the time!"

"Oh. Good. My lifelong dream." Nico rolled her eyes, having given up attempting to extricate herself from Rin's clingy grasp.

"Really? That's awesome! It works out perfectly, then!" Rin flashed Hanayo a big smile, which Hanayo returned very tentatively. She wasn't nearly as energetic as Rin, but she wasn't vocal enough to suggest getting off of Nico, so she just kept standing there awkwardly. It was her specialty. "I wish I had a name, though. You both got names already!"

"Hanamaru just took you in, Rin. Sheesh, be patient." Nico rolled her eyes, looking over at Hanayo. "And isn't it weird to be named after someone you personally knew?"

"I think it's an honor, honestly." She didn't mind it at all. It was nice to see that even after all those years, people still remembered the idols of yore, especially Tsubasa. After all, they had been friends in their lifetime, so it gave her a sense of connection to the past. She ought to tell Tsubasa about it. She'd probably enjoy hearing it.

"Why are we even these kids' guardians anyway? They have friends, right? What's the deal?"

"Don't be like that, Nico!" Rin papped Nico's face, making her angrier. "They all have issues they need to work out, and we're gonna help them!" She was the confident one of the three, with Hanayo making sure to add an 'I hope' to the end of that. She still wasn't as confident in her abilities to be a guardian as Rin was, or even Nico. How was she supposed to help Ruby gain confidence when she still didn't have much of it herself?

"I guess..." Nico didn't seem all that convinced, but she didn't fight it any longer, and eventually Rin moved so that she could get up. "You know what we should do, though? We should make bets on who's gonna give up our identities first by speaking to their charge."

"But what are we betting? Money isn't worth anything up here."

"That's not the point, Rin. It's bragging rights. Just... Ugh, would you work with me here?"

"Well we are roommates-"

" _Anyway_ , my money's on Nozomi." She saw Rin open her mouth. "Don't even say anything about the money thing. So Nozomi... I feel she's too soft. She's gonna see Mari cry and spill the beans."

"Where would she get the beans?"

"Rin, you _know_ what I'm talking about! I know you're doing this on purpose!" Hanayo had to shuffle over and start rubbing Nico's back to calm her down. "Just put your bet down, you stupid cat."

"Well... I say Umi! She's super new to it all, so I dunno if she'll be able to hold off for very long." That was... an interestingly sensible argument. Nico couldn't even refute that, so she just took it into consideration. "Kayo-chin?"

"I..." She didn't really want to place a bet on this kind of thing. It was saying she felt someone was less capable than the rest at doing their job. That felt really mean. "I guess... Eli?" She didn't give a reason, and she only chose Eli because she had been the one to speak - accidentally - first. The other two didn't pry though, and they kept going on with their business.

"Alright, so we have our picks in. Now remember, you can't go out and try to force the issue. This has gotta be played on the straight and narrow, got it?" Rin saluted and Hanayo nodded, then Nico shoved her hand out. "Alright you two, hands in. We gotta seal this pact." Rin shoved her hand in, with Hanayo following more tentatively. "We've got our bet down now, so let's... uh... I dunno, do whatever."

"Go team!" Rin pushed her hand up in the air, sending Nico's in the air as well. Now there was nothing to do but play around until their charges woke up. "So what do we do now?"

"I dunno, man. Wanna... go bother Eli or something?"

"Yay! Bother's my middle name!"

"Why am I not surprised?"


	8. Chapter 8: Letters We Never Send

Kanan knew this was a bad idea. She should've been more firm with Chika. Starting another idol group was just going to lead to more trouble. She had agreed to ask Dia about allowing a new idol club, though. It was a mistake, and she knew it without a doubt. Everybody needed to forget that stuff and move on with their lives. That advice applied to her as well, though. Even agreeing initially to the idea showed that she had a foot stuck in the past, remembering the old days.

She slapped her cheeks in order to try and snap herself out of it. Everything she had done was for the benefit of others, specifically Mari. She had ruined their idol group and their friendships all to give Mari a chance at a better life. It had hurt her every day since to think back on what she had lost, but she had been somewhat strengthened with the knowledge that Mari was going to make something of herself. Now that she was back, she had completely wasted everything they'd worked towards. If people weren't going to take her advice, then... then she was just going to stop giving it.

At least, she would stop after one last piece of advice. Taking out her phone, she pulled up Chika's number and sent her a text. _'I'm sorry, Chika, but I can't convince Dia to make another idol club. I suggest you let it go like we have. There's nothing but pain in it. Why don't you join the softball club or something? You love that.'_ It didn't feel good sending that text, but she tried to push those feelings aside. She'd spent enough time feeling bad about the decisions she'd made.

Not having to go to school had some benefits. She'd never been a very studious individual, which she might have accidentally passed down to Chika and You. It wasn't like she failed her classes, but she wasn't all that book smart. She felt much more comfortable around the water, which was why working at her dad's diving shop was a real blessing. Everything she was interested in was at the tips of her fingers.

Getting ready for another day of work, she changed into her wetsuit and went out back, where she started helping her dad haul diving equipment into the shed. Then she went into the garage to help repair broken equipment. This was the kind of stuff she'd never learn in school. The hands-on training was a lot more useful to her. Who ever used Pythagorean Theorem in their daily lives, anyway?

"Kanan dear, I think we've got a visitor." Her dad spoke to her with a playful tone, but it still made Kanan tense up. She was sure it was Dia or Mari, or maybe Chika or You, there with a disapproving look towards her actions. It turned out to not be any of them, though. In fact, it wasn't even a human. When she looked up to potentially confront the visitor, it turned out to be a cat.

"Huh..." Scratching her head with a wrench, Kanan eyed the cat curiously. It was a very lithe feline, with black fur in such a shade that it looked dark blue instead. Kanan was reminded of the night sky looking at it. Why had it walked into her garage, though? There wasn't anything in there interesting to cats. While she just stared in bemusement, her dad seemed to enjoy the sudden extra company.

"Funny to see a cat here, huh Kanan? They don't often like the water." That was true, though Kanan hadn't really thought about that. She was just relieved that it wasn't a human. There wasn't time to pay attention to a stray cat, anyway. Hopefully it would leave if they stopped paying attention to it, and they could continue fixing all the equipment they had spread out in front of them. Taking the initiative, she started screwing back on one of the oxygen tank valves that had somehow fallen off.

The cat didn't leave, though. Despite attention not being bestowed upon it, it didn't seem bothered. It watched them work for awhile, padding around the garage and staring at the equipment with a look that seemed curious. Kanan couldn't help but become distracted, occasionally looking over at the feline. The distractions ended up costing her, as her attempt to fix a breathing tube while looking with one eye ended up with her tearing a hole in the apparatus with a screwdriver. "Ah, dammit!"

"Watch the language, dear," her dad immediately quipped without looking at her. Kanan gritted her teeth and went back to worth, forcing herself to not pay attention to the feline intruder. She eventually fell back into a rhythm, and it was easy to not only ignore the cat, but also cleanse her mind of her previous unwanted thoughts. All she thought of, and all she wanted to think of, was diving equipment.

Despite spending nearly two hours sitting there and working, the cat never seemed to grow disinterested enough to leave. She was sure that when she looked up after patching up the final diving tank, the cat would be gone, but it wasn't. Sighing to herself, she knew that she would never be able to understand the inner machinations of land mammals. Sea creatures did more sensible things to her.

Her dad went inside after they finished, leaving her to carry all the equipment to their rightful places. Grunting, she hoisted up several air tanks and hugged them tightly, carrying them to the tank shelves. The whole way, the cat followed her. She tried to think nothing of it, but it kept following her with each trip she took. It made her more and more curious, though she knew that there would be no answers granted to her. Animals didn't talk, after all.

When she finally finished putting everything away, she slapped her hands together to get any residual dust off, then cracked her knuckles. After a hard day's work, she liked to cool off in the ocean. That was what the wetsuit was for: once she finished working, she could head right to the docks and dive into the water. So around the house she went, to the docks with the cat in pursuit.

She dived into the water without hesitation, relishing the cool feeling surrounding herself. Cutting through the water, she figured a long, healthy swim would bore the cat into finally leaving. Again, she was wrong. No matter how long she swam around the ocean, the cat stayed on the dock, watching her with almost unblinking eyes. It was unnerving when she took the time to look back. She didn't really want to keep eye contact for very long due to that.

By the time she hoisted herself back onto the dock, the sun had set and the water was being bathed by the glow of the moon. Water dripped from her body onto the wood, and still that cat was standing there, looking up at her as if it expected her to wonder. Wonder she did. What was this cat's deal? Why was it so interested in her? If only she had a way to get answers to these questions.

"It's time for me to go inside now. Go... back to your friends, or something." Kanan made a shoo-ing motion towards the cat, then walked back to the garage, where she grabbed a towel and started drying off. She made sure that she wasn't going to track any water into the house before hanging back up the towel and opening up the door that connected the garage to the house. When she looked back into the garage, the cat was there staring at her.

Feeling unnerved, she shut the door and locked up. She didn't want to think that she was locking up to keep a cat out of her house. They couldn't even open doors. No, it wasn't that. It was just for general safety purposes, that's all.

* * *

Dia tapped her pen against her desk, staring at the paperwork placed perfectly on its surface. She really needed to get on it, but she found her drive lacking. Her mind hadn't been on school all day, no matter how hard she'd tried. All she could think of were Kanan and Mari. The thoughts caused her emotions to swirl in a terrible turmoil. At times they made her mad, then the fire would be gone and she'd spiral straight down into sadness. After all of that was mixed together, she felt completely despondent. She didn't know whether she completely hated her former friends or wanted to beg them to talk to her again.

If only student council work could take her mind off of what troubled her. Instead, she found herself unable to do any work at all. Her concentration was shot, at least when it came to the stuff she needed to do. The pen dropped from her fingers, clacking uselessly against the desk. She was wasting the school's time by not getting any work done. Some student council president she turned out to be. At least she had no oversight, or she'd be in trouble.

Well, there was one specific overseer, but they hadn't been doing any sort of overseeing. Dia still couldn't believe that Mari was the school's chairwoman. She was a student, for goodness sake! The school must've been in more dire straights than she thought. She moved the top paper from the stack, hoping that the second one would give her more inspiration. Alas, it did not.

Putting her palms against the desk, she pushed herself up into a standing position, her chair sliding backwards. If she was going to be a strong businesswoman someday, she couldn't let her emotions get in the way of her work. She'd spent the entire day in a miserable state, silently bemoaning her situation, but what good had that done? This wasn't what her father would do. When life got tough, he stood tall and pushed through until things were better. She had to do that too.

Her friendships may have been broken beyond repair, but for now, her and Mari were coworkers in a way. She needed the chairwoman's help in getting all this work done. If she could push past the wayward emotions she had towards Mari, work could actually get done. With resolve, she left her office and went over to the chairwoman's office, hoping Mari was there.

She knocked on the door, waiting tensely for a response. When she heard "Come in," she opened the door and stepped inside. The door shut behind her as she saw the desk chair facing away from her. Obviously Mari was there, though. That was her voice, without a doubt. "Mari..." She found her voice faltering, making it hard to continue. It was imperative that she push through, though. Her future depended on it. "As the chairwoman of this school, I request your assistance in helping with paperwork."

"Oh? Does the great Dia Kurosawa now need help with some measly paperwork?" Mari swirled around in her chair, a flair for the dramatic that hadn't disappeared with her absence. "And here I thought you were smart enough to do it yourself." Dia was taken aback by Mari's harsh tone. She figured this would happen, considering how their previous conversation had gone. It was something she had even attempted to prepare herself for on the walk over. Apparently it hadn't been enough time, as those words and the way they were spoken acted like a knife plunged right into her chest.

She found herself at a loss for words, trying to gain back her confidence in the face of such harshness from someone who had always been a wonderful ray of sunshine. It hurt: it really did. She wanted to remain strong, but she knew that she was failing. The way the stern look on Mari's face started melting away into concern told her all she needed to know: that she didn't look like the strong, mature student council president she wanted to be. She knew that she looked exactly as she felt: like the weak, thirdwheeling crybaby that Kanan and Mari had always dragged around when they were kids. That wasn't the person she wanted to be anymore. She couldn't be.

"That information is irrelevant. I've been left with all the student council work, and if there's not going to be anyone else appointed to the council, I request that you assist me until there's enough people to split the work between." Her expression hardened, sharpening the previous softness Mari's words had inflicted upon her. She wasn't the little crybaby who needed her hand held. That wasn't going to be how she went through life. Her friendships may be in tatters, but she could rise from those ashes like a phoenix and claim the Kurosawa strength that she was destined to have.

"I..." Now it was Mari who was caught off guard, but not because of how formal Dia's tone had become. She had been used to that. No, it was the truth she had seen behind that formality. To see such a wounded expression on Dia's face tugged at her heart. She was mad, but she didn't want to see that. Maybe she had been too harsh... No, no, that wasn't it. She had been the one who was hurt. This was just a natural reaction when someone who had hurt her came in and started demanding things. "I guess I can help, if you really think it's too hard for you to accomplish alone."

Dia gritted her teeth, feeling waves of anger starting to rise in her. She wanted to start yelling, to let Mari know that she was more than capable of doing everything herself, and that she would be ten times the chairwoman that Mari was. That was just the anger talking, though. Besides, if she started yelling, then she'd certainly start crying, and it would ruin everything she'd just said to herself. She had to be professional, just like her father would be.

"As the chairwoman, I shouldn't be asking you to assist me. You should be doing it of your own volition." She turned and opened the door again, taking a step out before turning back to look at Mari. "If not, then I am more than capable of doing it myself." With that, she walked out, letting the door swing shut behind her. Whether or not Mari helped her, she at least took a stand and felt more confident about doing what she needed to do that evening.

Still, after having such a conversation with someone that used to be so close to her, she couldn't help but feel absolutely wretched.

* * *

Mari hadn't expected to be sitting across from Dia. Not after what had happened. Yet there she was, sitting in Dia's office, doing paperwork. For a moment, she had strongly considered just going home and leaving Dia to her own devices. She didn't, though. Something just wouldn't let her abandon Dia in her time of need. Alanis Morissette was surely staring knowingly at her.

She told herself that this was just something that the chairwoman would do. It was important to get all the actual schoolwork done, even if she didn't care for it all that much. That obviously wasn't the truth, though. She just couldn't keep herself away from her friends, even if they weren't her friends anymore. This was just a convenient excuse that let her be near Dia again without having to admit the truth.

She tried her best to concentrate solely on paperwork, but it was impossible. Her eyes kept drifting back to Dia, watching her do paperwork on the other side. What made it worse was that every so often, she caught Dia looking at her. Their eyes would meet, then quickly break apart as they went right back to their paperwork. Mari knew that Dia was looking at her, and she knew that Dia knew that she was looking at her. It was incredibly stressful. She either needed to break the tension, or she was going to be the one to break.

"Wow, this paperwork sure is boring!" Mari sighed dramatically, sweeping two of her papers away with a flick of her hand. They landed on Dia's side, drawing her unamused gaze. "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to hire someone to do all this paperwork for us."

"You can't just hire someone to do school paperwork. That doesn't teach us anything." Dia sighed and rubbed her forehead, feeling a familiar headache coming on. This was such a Mari solution to a problem that wasn't even that difficult.

"But it does, Dia! Money talks." She rubbed her fingers together, giving Dia a big smile. Dia just rolled her eyes and pushed Mari's wayward papers away, getting back to the grind.

"So does hard work. Now get your work done, or we'll never get to leave." Mari stuck her tongue out, but Dia was no longer looking at her. Sighing softly, she grabbed the two papers she flicked away and brought them back to her stack, resuming work. Though it hadn't lasted long, her random outburst had helped her push her previous thoughts away, at least temporarily. She was able to at least somewhat pay attention to her work, and it didn't take them all night to get it done.

"See? Was that so hard?" Dia grabbed Mari's finished papers and put them in neat, even stacks. Then she placed everything in its proper place and pushed her chair in. "Now, I'm going home. Feel free to stay here if you want, but you have to lock up after yourself." She held up a keyring, jingling it in front of Mari to see if she'd take it.

"And be here by myself? But what if something spooky happens?" She jumped up and wrapped her arms tightly around Dia. "Who would protect me from any school trespassers?"

"Just use the sword I keep taped to the bottom of my desk." To Mari's surprise, Dia didn't immediately try to wrestle herself out of Mari's grip. She was looking at Dia's face, and she swore that she saw some emotion pass across it, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. It vanished too fast for her to understand what it was, but she still felt slightly encouraged. Even if she wanted to keep being mad at Dia and ignore her forevermore, she just couldn't do it. The silliness that they were participating in right now, that was what made the most sense. That was what felt right.

"... Wait, do you actually have a sword under your desk?"

* * *

That night, Mari sat on her bed, legs crossed with a notepad on her lap. She tapped her pen against the paper, frowning as she glanced over to her left. Treasure, her new raccoon pet, sat there looking up at her, chittering quietly. Its calmness had a good effect on her, allowing her to finally uncap her pen and start writing.

She had read online that it was good to write out how one was feeling, in order to keep it from being bottled up and destroying them horribly from the inside. It was like writing a letter to someone, then never sending it. She wasn't sure it would feel as good as an actual verbal castigation, but she was willing to try it anyway. It would probably hurt her more if she saw Dia's face hold such sadness again.

 _Dia, every time I see you I feel such conflicting emotions. I get mad, of course. You hurt me so bad when you and Kanan sent me away. I didn't want to go! Why couldn't either of you understand that? Now you act like my being here is so problematic. It hurts because I came back for you two, and now neither of you want to be near me. That makes me sad as well. You told me once that you'd never make me cry, but you lied. You lied, and now I'm crying again. It's messing up my writing, and it's your fault. But I can't stay mad at you. I tried, I really did, but I can't. Seeing you makes me happy even when it makes me mad. I think about how things used to be, and how happy we were. It's not fair that it can't be that way anymore. Why did things have to change? I didn't want it to. Why does thinking about you make my heart start to pound and tears start to come out? I hate feeling this way! Can't we just go back to the way things were? Please? All I want is for you to say sorry. I want to forgive you. I don't want to hold onto all this anger and sadness. Please. I just want to forgive you._

At some point, she had stopped crying, though her tears had definitely smudged some of her words. It didn't matter, though. This wasn't going anywhere but the trash. It felt a little good to write out all of that. She probably wouldn't have been able to articulate it properly without saying something funny to break the tension, or breaking down crying. Tearing the paper from the notepad, she crumpled it up and threw it at her trash can, bouncing off the rim and onto the floor. _'Great.'_

She felt a gentle nudge against her side, which was Treasure looking up at her with its big ol' raccoon eyes. Smiling softly, Mari patted its head, then wiped the tears from her eyes. It was probably a useless action, though. She still had another letter to write and never send. Picking up her pen again, she started to write again.

 _Kanan, every time I see you I feel such conflicting emotions..._


End file.
